Day Four ;
The next morning Emily woke up at about 10. She got dressed and ready for the day and then walked out to find Lauren sitting at the kitchen table with a frown on her face.
“What’s wrong?” Emily asked as she walked over to her sister.
“We have nothing to eat.” Lauren said.
“Well I was planning on going grocery shopping sometime soon. I guess today would be a good day. There’s nothing else to do.”
“We should invite the guys too! They don’t have practice until tonight.” Lauren added excitedly.
“Invite them grocery shopping?” Emily asked, thinking how boring the task is and doubting they would want to go.
“Yeah, they’d make it fun!” Lauren said as she sent Tyler a text asking him to come.
“I guess that’s true.” Emily shrugged and texted Ashley telling her to bring Jordan and meet them at Walmart.
“I’ll tell Max to come.” Lauren said as she texted him.
“Is Leah gonna be able to come?” Emily asked, more for Max than for herself.
“No she’s working today.” Lauren replied, oblivious as to why she had asked.
“Oh okay.” Emily said. She was hoping she’d be able to start helping Max and Leah get closer soon, but today just wasn’t gonna be the day for that. She texted Geno and told him about the plans to all meet up, and wondered whether or not inviting Kris was a good idea. After a minute of thought she decided to invite him too. He was her best friend after all, and Geno would have to respect that.
Everyone that was invited showed up to Walmart at around noon. It was Emily, Lauren, Ashley, Jordan, Tyler, Geno, Max, and Kris. Sidney opted not to go because, one; he didn’t feel like getting noticed by a bunch of random Pens fans, and two; he was too distracted with texting Ashlen.
“Wow, party at Walmart! We’re cool!” Ashley exclaimed as they all walked inside.
“Yes we are.” Emily agreed, even though her friend was being sarcastic. It wasn’t very crowded inside the big store, but there was a fair amount of people. “Laur, you and TK go get some food.” She instructed her sister and pushed a cart to her.
“Okay.” Lauren agreed and her and Tyler went off on their own to shop.
“And what do we do?” Max asked. He was disappointed when he found out Leah wasn’t coming, but tried not to show it.
“Have fun!” Emily and Ashley laughed.
“How do you intend on doing that?” Jordan asked them.
“Trust me, there are a million fun things you can do here. You just gotta be wild and crazy and just mess around.” Ashley replied, grabbing a hold of his hand. “Come on.”
Emily grabbed Geno’s hand the way Ashley had and the two girls led the guys back where the kids toys and stuff were.
“Oooh! Check it out!” Ashley exclaimed as she found a karaoke machine. She grabbed the microphone and sang into it. “I’m hot! You’re cold! You go around, like you know! Who I am! La la la!”
“American Idol!” Emily laughed at her friend who couldn’t even remember the words to the song and sang it dramatically.
“You know it!” Ashley laughed.
“My turn!” Max yelled and grabbed the mic and started to sing the first thing that came to his head, “He was a skater boy, she said see ya later boy, he wasn’t good enough for her!”
“Wow you’re awful!” Jordan laughed.
“Like you could do better.” Max shook his head comically.
“I’m pretty sure anyone could do better.” Kris joked and Max just smirked at him.
“You wanna give it a go, Tanger?” He asked with a chuckle.
“I’ll pass.” He replied.
“Suit yourself.”
Meanwhile, Tyler and Lauren were over in the food isles filling up their cart.
“This looks good.” Lauren commented as she threw a box of cereal into the shopping cart.
“What do you think the rest of them are doing?” Tyler asked her as he pushed the cart along side her as they walked.
“I don’t know. They’re probably messing around.” She said, rolling her eyes.
“True.” He agreed.
“Marco!” Max called out, eyes closed and arms out in front of him.
“Polo!” The rest of them yelled back laughing. Max tried to go in the direction he heard their voices without much luck. He kept running into the shelves.
“Marco!” He yelled again.
“Polly!” Ashley said back.
“Babe, it’s Polo.” Jordan told her with a laugh.
“She never seemed to get that.” Emily shook her head at the memories.
“Where are you guys?! Marco!” Max asked as the rest of them hid behind a random display.
As he walked out of the isle he was in, he ran right into an old man.
“Oh, sorry sir!” Max apologized, opening his eyes. The man just glared and walked away slowly. They all laughed at him.
“Wow you suck.” Jordan told him with a smile.
“Whatever. New game!” Max said, sick of playing Marco Polo.
“Let’s do piggy back rides!” Ashley suggested.
“Hop on, babe.” Jordan said letting her on his back. Geno did the same for Emily who laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on. It made Kris jealous.
“Looks like I’m riding you, buddy.” Max smirked at Kris, who wasn’t too fond of the idea.
“No way.” He said, crossing his arms.
“Come on, Kris.” Emily begged him. He couldn’t say no to that.
“Ugh, fine.” He sighed and Max jumped on his back.
“Giddy up!” Max yelled, drawing a bit of attention to them.
“I’ll drop you.” Kris threatened him.
“I feel so tall!” Ashley laughed.
“I know, right?” Emily agreed. Both Jordan and Geno were at least 6 foot 3, so being on their backs put them pretty high up.
“This is ridiculous. Get off of me.” Kris told Max after they received a few dirty looks from other shoppers.
“You’re no fun!” Max complained as Kris let him fall to the ground, landing on his feet.
All six of them walked over to where the sports equipment was. Ashley and Emily, who were still on Jordan and Evgeni’s backs, got down off of them.
Max noticed the hockey stuff and smiled. “Dude we’re playing.” He said and grabbed a stick.
“I call Ash and Tanger.” Jordan said, picking his team and grabbed himself a stick.
“Alright. Ends of the isle is the goal.” Max told everyone.
“Kris you be goalie.” Ashley told him and he agreed.
“Max, you too.” Emily instructed him. He nodded and got into his position. Jordan found a bright orange street hockey puck and got ready to drop it.
“Let the game begin!”
“Which one, Scooby Doo or Spiderman?” Lauren asked Tyler, holding up two boxes of shaped macaroni. Tyler chuckled.
“That’s a real tough one.” He said, putting his hand on his chin as if he were thinking hard about it.
“Well, I suppose getting both wouldn’t hurt.” Lauren shrugged and dropped them in the cart.
“Good idea.” TK smiled and put his arms around her waist and kissed her out of nowhere. Lauren giggled when they separated.
“What was that for?” She asked smiling.
“For being beautiful and wonderful and amazing.” Tyler smiled back.
“Awe!” Lauren exclaimed at how romantic he was being and kissed him again.
“Take that, bitches!” Jordan high-fived Ashley as he scored his first goal on Max.
“You’re still down 5-2.” Geno pointed out.
“Don’t ruin my moment!” Jordy glared at him and Ashley laughed.
“Good shot, babe.” She told him.
“Thank you!” He replied loudly.
“Whatever, drop the puck so we can kick your asses some more!” Max said from his spot in the invisible goal net.
Emily and Ashley laughed as they took the face off. Emily won it and got it to Geno, who deked past Jordy easily and shot it past Kris.
“What now, ho?” Emily laughed at Jordan, making Geno smile.
“6-2. You wanna call it a game, Jordy?” Max asked him with a smirk.
“Hell no! We’re coming back with a vengeance!” He replied, not giving up just yet.
“Fine by me.” Max replied and got ready as Jordy and Geno went head to head for the face off.
Jordan took it and fired a shot as hard as he could towards Max. The puck tipped off of Geno’s stick and flew full speed high in the air out of the isle, knocking something over in the distance.
“Oh shit!” Jordan said and quickly put his stick back with the rest of them. He grabbed Ashley’s hand and ran, with everyone else following and laughing the whole way to the beauty supplies area.
“Dude, what did you hit?!” Kris asked Jordan as he laughed about it.
“I don’t know! But I heard a crash!” He replied.
“You better hope it wasn’t anything important. They got cameras in here, ya know.” Emily told him. Geno had his arms around her waist and was standing behind her.
“It’s not a big deal. I bet no one even noticed.” Jordan said, shrugging. Just then, a couple of Walmart employees walked past the isle they were standing in.
“Yeah, it was a hockey puck!” A middle aged man with a large grey mustache said to his coworker.
“Those damn kids.” The other one said, shaking his head with disappointment.
Once the workers past their isle, they all burst out in laughter.
“Yeah, Jordy. No one noticed.” Emily mocked him.
“Well they don’t know it was us! They think it’s some kids!” He tried defending himself.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I wanna know what he hit.” Ashley laughed.
“Me too. Let’s go check it out before they get it cleaned up.” Max added and they all started walking out of the makeup isle towards where the puck seemed to have went. As they turned a corner, a huge puddle of water on the floor was an automatic sign of what Jordan hit.
“Oh shit!” He exclaimed. On the floor in front of them was the remains of a large glass fish tank, broken in pieces with the little sea rocks and everything. Including the bright orange puck.
“Oh my god! Jordan!” Ashley whisper yelled at him for causing the mess. She didn’t wanna be too obvious that it was him since a janitor had just come up near them. He had a mop to clean up some of the water, but it was a pretty big tank and the water was everywhere.
“Excuse me, sir.” Emily said walking up to him, trying not to step on the glass. The man looked up from his moping. “Were there any fish in there when it broke?” She hadn’t noticed any fish on the ground, but was worried that they could’ve died because of them.
“No, ma’am. They were getting ready to put some of them new ones in that there tank later though. Lucky they didn’t do it before those hooligans came along and did this here mess.” The old man said bitterly, shaking his head like he was ashamed.
“Oh. Well I’m sure it was an accident.” Emily replied, thankful that no fish were harmed.
“Accident, shmaccident. There ain’t no excuses for those demons. Break expensive stuff and then Ol’ Jimmy gotta get his mop out and clean it up? I don‘t think so, no ma‘am I don’t.” He said, referring to himself and pointing to the mop. Emily slowly backed away from him as he mumbled angrily to himself.
“Sounds like Ol’ Jimmy’s pissed at you, Jordy.” Max laughed quietly, still standing near the destruction.
“It’s not just my fault!” Jordan said. They all just looked at him with their arms crossed and eyebrows raised. “Okay, it was. But he doesn’t know it was so he can’t be mad at me.”
“Don’t look now, but I think he just found out.” Kris said. They all turned to look in the direction he was. Ol’ Jimmy was looking at a picture another employee showed him with a furious look on his face. He looked up at Jordan and pointed at him.
“You! Demon boy! You did this!” Jimmy yelled. Jordan’s eyes widened.
“Run!” Ashley whispered and grabbed his hand. The six of them took off running through the random isles, not knowing whether the crazy old man was following them or not.
“So where’s you guys’ game at tomorrow?” Lauren asked Tyler as they continued looking for food to get.
“New York. Playing the Islanders.” He replied with a smile.
“Easy win.” Lauren laughed.
“I hope.” TK said, “It’s hard playing when I know you’re not there.”
“Aw, well I’ll be watching the whole time.” She said. It was beginning to come to her attention how much more romantic and sweet Tyler was being lately. Not that she minded. She actually really liked his new ‘attitude’.
“And I’ll be thinking of you the whole time.” He added.
“No, you’ll be focusing on the game the whole time. And then once you win you’ll be thinking of me.” Lauren corrected him with a smile. He chuckled at how supportive she was of his hockey career. She didn’t like to interfere with his games and mess him up. She wanted him to do the absolute best he could and she didn’t want to stop him from doing that.
“Whatever you say, babe.”
“We’re screwed.” Max said. They were hiding out in the baby supplies isle near the back of the store. Max was pacing back and forth. Geno and Emily were sitting on the floor across from Jordan and Ashley.
“He’ll never find us. It‘s a big store and he‘s got a mess to clean up. It‘ll take him hours.” Jordan said, sounding sure of himself.
“I like how you don’t even care that you did that. I don‘t blame him for being mad.” Kris said, smirking down at Jordan.
“Neither do I. You’re lucky there weren’t any fish in there or else I woulda beat you myself.” Emily told him.
“Whatever.” Jordan replied, not having anything else to say.
“Kris, sit.” Emily told him, pointing to a spot next to her. He seemed uncomfortable with her and Geno being together, and she wanted him to be able to relax and not think about it.
Kris hesitantly sat down on the ground next to her. Geno didn’t seem to mind as much as Kris thought he would. The only thing he did was grab Emily’s hand in his to show she was his.
“You smell really good.” Emily told Kris with a friendly smile, and put her head on his shoulder for a moment.
“Thanks.” He replied, not sure of what she was doing. He did know that Geno wasn’t liking it.
“Mhm.” She replied. She was really just trying to see what Evgeni’s reaction would be. She wasn’t trying to make him mad or anything, just curious as to what he’d do. Kris was her best friend and if Geno couldn’t accept that, it could be a good thing to use when the time came to break up with him.
Ashley and Jordan looked at her weird. She ignored them and slowly sat back up straight.
“We’re gonna have to get out of here sometime.” Max said, unaware of what was going on down on the ground. He was standing, looking for a way to go without getting caught.
“Way to pick a hiding spot as far away from the exit as possible.” Emily said, looking at Jordan and Ashley.
“We weren’t thinking, we were just running.” Ashley told her, obviously amused by all this.
Max started to climb up the shelves full of things that would make great gifts at a baby shower. He spotted an opening near the top he could look through for a safe way out.
“You see anything?” Geno asked him once he was at the top.
“Yeah, there’s a clear path to the exit.” Max replied and started to climb down. “If we hurry it shou…”
Just then Max’s foot slipped. His natural reaction was to grab something to catch himself with, so he grabbed a shelf. It tipped towards him, everything falling off of the shelves. The shelf’s itself didn’t fall completely, just catching itself on the other side of the isle, forming a crooked letter V. All of their jaws dropped.
“Shit.”
Max was on the ground covered in baby bottles and other weird things for pregnant women. Luckily he wasn’t hurt.
“We need to get out of here right now.” Emily said, grabbing both Geno and Kris’s hands and quickly walking away from the huge mess Max had just created.
Jordan grabbed his hand and helped him up and quickly followed Emily and them along with Ashley and Max.
Lauren and Tyler quickly looked in the direction the big crash they heard came from. It was near the back of the store and sounded like it was bad.
“What’s with all the crashes in here today?” Lauren asked, after that being the second one they heard so far.
“I don’t know.” Tyler replied, “You don’t think…?”
“No, it couldn’t have been them.” Lauren said, knowing what he was implying. “Could it?”
“We made it!” Max exclaimed in triumph once they reached the parking lot safely without being spotted. They were all standing around where they parked their cars, which was all in the same area.
“You do realize we can, like, never go back there again.” Ashley said, half serious half laughing.
“Laur and TK are gonna have to be our permanent Walmart shoppers.” Jordan said.
“Oh my god, I forgot about them!” Emily said and pulled out her cell, dialing Lauren’s number.
It rang a few times and then Lauren’s voice answered.
“Hey, where are you guys?” She asked, knowing it was Emily who called.
“Outside. Are you guys almost done? We need to get out of here.” Emily told her.
“Yeah we’re checking out. Why do you need to…” Lauren paused, realizing something, “Oh my god, did you guys break all that stuff?!”
“Well, technically it was just Jordan and Max. But yeah, so hurry up or we’re leaving without you.” She told her and then hung up.
“Hate to bail on you guys, but I’m getting the hell out of here before crazy Ol’ Jim comes out here and finds us.” Max said about to get in his car.
“Yeah, same here. He knows my face, I can’t hide from him.” Jordan said, grabbing Ashley’s hand and going to his car.
“Fine, be that way.” Emily said to them. Then turned to face Geno and Kris. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“Not until you do.” They both said.
“Good.” She replied, then looked to the entrance of the store to see if Lauren and Tyler were coming yet.
“Isn’t that…?” Kris started to say.
“Ol’ Jimmy!” Emily nearly yelled, seeing the old janitor walking out of the store with an evil looking glare on his face.
“Time to go?” Geno asked.
“Time to go.” Emily nodded. “I’ll talk to you later.” She said, giving him a hug and a quick kiss. He then went to his car.
“I came with TK, I can’t take his car.” Kris told Emily as she was about to get in her own.
“Then get in.” She told him, pointing to the passenger seat of her BMW. She was hurrying since Jimmy was walking towards them and he knew what she looked like from when she talked to him.
Kris nodded and got in the car. She quickly started it up and pulled out just before Ol’ Jimmy could get a good look at her.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Chapter Thirteen;
It was around six thirty by the time everyone who was coming got to Sid’s, or rather Mario’s house. The guest list consisted of Max, Jordan, Tyler, Kris, Marc-Andre, Geno, Chris Kunitz, Emily, Ashley, Lauren, Leah, and obviously Sidney.
“What do you guys wanna do?” Sidney asked, they were all seated at Mario’s big kitchen table with various drinks in hand.
“We should play a game!” Lauren suggested happily.
“Like what?” Jordan asked.
“Ooh! I know!” Ashley yelled, “Let's play Never Have I Ever!”
“Oh my god! Yeah!” Emily laughed, remembering playing the game when she was younger. It was sure to be more interesting now.
“How do you play?” Kris asked, trying to avoid making too much eye contact with Emily. They both were. They didn’t want to start anything else tonight, especially with Geno and everyone else around.
“Well,” Ashley began to explain, “Everyone starts by holding up all ten of their fingers. Then we go around in a circle and each person says something that they've never done. And if someone else has done that before, they put one of their fingers down. The objective is to get everyone else out and the winner is the last one with fingers still up.”
“What do we get if we win?” Max asked curiously.
“A lap dance.” Lauren said, trying to sound serious.
“Ooh! I'm in!” Tyler shouted and everyone laughed.
“I was just kidding!” Lauren giggled and fake slapped him.
“Well does everybody have some cash on them?” Sid asked and everyone checked their pockets. They each set some money down on the table, adding up to 53 dollars and 25 cents total.
“So winner gets it all?” Max asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yepp, so absolutely no cheating. Got that guys?” Ash said, looking mostly at Max and Jordan.
“Babe, I would not cheat. Trust me.” Jordan said convincingly and everyone turned to look at Max.
“What? I'm not gonna cheat either!” He said defensively.
“Okay, okay.” Marc-Andre said, calming him down since they were seated right next to each other.
“So who's gonna start?” asked Sid, trying to get the game moving.
“Ash will.” Emily volunteered her friend on her left. “It was her idea.”
“Okay,” she started but was interrupted by Max.
“Wait, wait. Can it be anything, like anything?” he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrow.
“Yeah, Max. You can say anything you want as long as you've never done it before.” Emily told him and he smiled.
“Okay, got it.”
“Alright, well then.” Ashley smiled, thinking of a good one to start off with. "Never have I ever been to Canada.”
“Awe man, that's not fair!” Max protested and so did everyone else, but Leah.
“Babe, how could you?” Jordan asked in a fake devastated voice. It was obvious that all of the guys had been to Canada before. They were all born there, except for Geno. And Emily and Lauren had gone there when they were younger.
“Hey, I’m in it to win it.” She laughed and high-fived Leah from across the table, Leah being the only other one who didn't have to put a finger down.
“What ever, my turn.” Emily laughed and thought about what to say, “Never have I ever gone hunting.”
“Awe you bitch!” Ashley scowled. Being friends for as long as they had been, Emily knew she used to go hunting with her dad when she was younger.
“Hey, like you said, babe. She's in it to win it.” Jordan said and high-fived Emily similarly to the way Ash and Leah did a minute ago. Now they were two of the people putting a finger down, along with Tyler.
“Looks like TK's loosing!” Max pointed out after counting everyone's remaining fingers.
“Awe it's okay, Teek.” Lauren consoled her boyfriend. While she did that, Geno leaned over discreetly and whispered something in Emily's ear causing her to smile. Kris noticed and felt a pang of jealousy shoot through him. He didn't want to say anything though. He knew how she felt about him and that's all that mattered right now. And besides that little bit of envy he had just felt, things were going pretty smoothly. No one suspected anything about what had happened the previous night and it seemed as if their secret was safe.
“Alright guys, there's money on the line here! Let's focus!” Max said. It was obvious he wasn't planning on walking out of here empty handed.
“Geno's up.” Fleury pointed out and he smirked at him.
“Okay.” He said and prepared what he was going to say. “Never have I ever know how to speak French.”
“Awe.” All three of the French Canadians and Emily said as they put another finger down. That left Max, Kris, Flower, Tyler, and Emily in last place with 8 fingers left up.
“Okay, never have I ever had braces for my teeth.” Marc-Andre said and flashed a big smile showing his big teeth.
“Ha, you would!” Sid laughed and Emily, Ashley and Lauren put another finger down.
“Ooh! Look who's losing now!” Lauren teased Emily, trying to stick up for her man. Emily just stuck her tongue out at her.
“My turn! And you can't lie!” Max was obviously excited. “Okay, never have I ever slept with anyone that's in this room right now.”
Kris and Emily looked at each other with wide eyes. Lucky for them, Ash and Jordan distracted everyone else with their giggling as they both put a finger down. While the guys joked with them about it, Em and Kris had a silent conversation from across the table.
Kris shook his head no, very subtly, trying to tell her not to put a finger down.
She shrugged her shoulders slightly in response.
Kris sighed, knowing she didn't want to cheat. She promised she would never cheat again, and this counted. He knew if he wanted her to be with him he would have to show her he wasn't afraid to be honest, too. Fine, but don't let them see. He mouthed to her and she nodded in response.
“Okay, Leah's turn!” Emily said as a distraction.
“Hmm…” Leah thought about what to say as Kris and Emily each put a finger down. Thinking they were in the clear, they got back to focusing on the game.
Emily was about to look at Leah, who was still thinking, when she noticed Max looking at her with raised eyebrows. Oh god, he saw. Seeing the panic in her face, Max smiled sympathetically and made a zippering movement across his lips to assure her he wouldn't say anything.
“Never have I ever said the F word.” Leah finally said with a shrug of her shoulders. That got everyone's attention.
“Bull shit!” Max said, not believing she was telling the truth.
“I'm serious!” She said defensively.
“Never?” Chris asked in disbelief.
“Nope.”
“There's no way.” Sid said with a laugh.
“I'm not lying!” She assured them. While she tried to convince the rest of the guys, Emily noticed something different about Max. The way he was looking at Leah was as if he had seen her for the first time. He was completely smitten. Leah was different than any of the other girls he was used to being with, and the fact that she had never even dropped the F bomb proved it.
“Seriously guys, she never said it.” Lauren tried to assure everyone. They just sighed. Everyone but Leah put a finger down.
“Dude, that’s just crazy.” Ashley laughed.
“Whatever, it’s my turn.” Lauren said, a devious smile was on her face as she looked at Emily. “Never have I ever had the letter M in my first name.”
“What the hell kind of never is that?!” Emily protested. That left her with only four fingers up, the only one with less than one whole hand up.
“Yeah, really!?” Max added. Him and Marc-Andre were the other two that had M’s, leaving them each with six fingers.
“Looks like someone’s a sore loser.” Jordan laughed at the them.
“We haven’t lost yet.” Emily pointed out.
“Yeah, key word yet.” He smirked back.
“Whatever man. TK’s turn.” Max stuck his tongue out.
“Okay, uh.” Tyler thought for a minute, “Never have I ever been to Mexico.”
“Wow you suck.” Emily said, putting another finger down.
“Teek!” Lauren was shocked he’d say that considering she had gone to Mexico with Emily.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know!” He apologized but was smiling.
“Tanger’s turn!” Max announced, hoping he’d say something that’d keep his last six fingers up.
“Never have I ever been twenty three yet.” Kris said simply.
“Damn you.” Max shook his head disappointedly. He, along with Geno, Kunitz, Flower, and Tyler put a finger down.
“Sid, your turn.” Marc-Andre said to the captain, who wasn’t paying attention. He was looking down at his lap with his hands under the table.
“Dude, what are you doing?!” Max asked, getting Sidney’s attention.
“Huh? I’m texting Ashlen.” He said, holding up his phone.
“Well it’s your turn.” Chris informed him.
“Oh, okay. Never have I ever kissed someone from Russia.” Sid said and got back to his conversation with Ashlen.
“I love how I suck at this game so damn bad it’s not even funny.” Emily said, with only two fingers left.
“Well, I think it’s pretty funny.” Jordan laughed, mocking her with the seven fingers he still had up.
“Sorry.” Geno whispered to her, apologizing for being the only Russian she’d ever kissed.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m gonna lose whether you’re Russian or not.” She smiled at him. Him and Max were the other two to put fingers down.
“Alright, never have I ever been a girl.” Chris said using his turn.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Lauren complained.
“Sorry, I just couldn’t think of anything else to get Leah to put another finger down.” He joked. That was the first thing that Leah had done since Emily’s never, being going hunting.
“Looks like it’s my turn.” Jordan said, preparing something to say. He noticed Emily’s last finger being up and smirked at her. He knew something that he was sure everyone else had done before. “Never have I ever had brown hair.”
“You dick.” Max said, speaking for everyone. Jordan just laughed.
“Losers have to go in the living room.” He said to Emily, who was all out of fingers, pointing to the next room over.
“Thanks, Jordy.” She said as if it didn’t faze her and got out of her seat and walked into the living room by herself.
A few minutes later while waiting for someone else to get out and join her in the losers room, Emily heard Max and Jordy going at it.
“Max loses! No fingers, means no money. Get out.” Jordan said with a laugh.
“Yeah, I got a finger for ya.” Max shot back, flipping Jordy off as he walked into the living room.
Playing a game probably wasn’t the greatest idea considering how competitive all the guys could get.
“Looks like I’ll be joining you.” Max smiled, sitting down on the couch next to Emily.
“Yepp.” Emily said, hoping he’d forgotten about finding out about her and Kris.
He didn’t.
“So, you and Tanger? Is that where he was last night? He was trying to tell me some shit about his ‘Uncle François’. But I wasn’t buying that. I just had this feeling.” Max asked, an amused look on his face.
“Max, please please please don’t tell anyone. If Geno finds out I slept with Kris it’ll crush him. I really don’t want to hurt him.” Emily begged him.
“Don’t worry I won’t say anything, I promise.” Max said honestly. “But may I ask, how did that happen?”
“Well, he came over to my apartment and we got into a little fight and then he told me he was in love with me and I told him I was in love with him too and then we just kind of did it.” She smiled as she told him. It felt good being able to talk about it with someone, even if it was Max.
“Oooh, romantic.” Max said with a chuckle.
“And that was just the first time.” Emily added. For whatever reason, she felt compelled to tell him all about it while she had the chance. She trusted him to not tell anyone and she really wanted to talk about it.
“First out of how many?” Max asked, kind of surprised that she even trusted him enough to tell him. It seemed like everyone always doubted him or didn’t believe he could do things. It felt good to have someone finally trust him with something important.
“Two. And the second time was even better.” She gushed. It felt like she was talking to Ashley or another one of her girl friends, and she liked that.
“So I take it he was good?” Max chuckled.
“Good? More like incredible!” She said just as Kris walked into the room.
“Oh, hey Banger. I mean, Tanger.” Max joked, “We were just talking about you.”
Kris looked at Emily who just shrugged her shoulders.
“He knows.” She said.
“How’d you find out?” Kris asked him, not sure what else to say.
“François told me.” Max lied with a smirk.
“He pretty much figured it out himself. I told you he would be the one to put it together, but you insisted he couldn’t count.” Emily shook her head. Max was confused since he hadn’t been there for the conversation she was referring to.
“Oh.” Kris said simply.
“Yeah, man. And from what I hear, you’re like a beast in bed.” Max said. Emily hit him on the arm for saying that. “Ouch!”
“Thanks?” Kris said. He wasn’t exactly as comfortable talking about it with Max as Emily seemed to be.
“No problem, but if you don’t mind I’m gonna steal your secret lover for a moment.” Max said and then turned his attention to Emily. “I wanna talk to you about something in private.”
“Okay.” She said and he directed her into another room.
“We’ll be back in a bit.” Max told Kris and shut the door behind him.
They were in some kind of room that didn’t have much furniture besides a couch and some chairs. Mario’s house was huge, who knows what room this was.
“First of all,” Max started to ask once he was alone with Emily, “Are you planning on breaking up with Geno?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to. I’m probably going to give it at least a week though. I don’t have the heart to dump him without a reason and I’m not telling him about Kris.” She explained.
“Okay, I was just curious. But that’s not all I wanted to talk about.” He told her.
“Alright, then. Continue.”
“Well this is actually about me. I need to talk to someone about it and I figure since you were able to trust me with that, I can trust you with this.” Max told her, “I really like Leah.”
“Oh my god I knew it!”
“What? How’d you know?” He asked. He didn’t think it would be that easy to tell.
“Well its just in the way you look at her. I saw you watching her earlier and it’s like she put you under some sort of spell. Like you were hypnotized and she was all you could see.” Emily smiled at him, “I don’t know how to describe it exactly, but I just had a feeling.”
“Really?” He asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded, “So are you guys gonna hook up?”
“I want to, but I don’t know. I have the hardest time talking to her. I can never find the right words to say.” Max confessed.
“Well you’re gonna have to be a man and talk to her. She’s shy so just get her to warm up to you and you’ll be able to talk about anything and everything and it will be perfect. Trust me.”
“But what am I suppose to say? She’s different than the rest of the girls I’ve been with.”
“Just be yourself. Don’t worry about trying to impress anyone. She’ll like you for you.” Emily said, trying to convince him to trust her.
“Okay. Thanks.” He said genuinely.
“No problem. Remember I’m always here for you if you wanna talk.” Emily told him with a smile.
“You too. If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to talk to me about it. I’ll do whatever I can to help.” Max promised her sincerely.
“Thanks, Max. I’ll remember that.”
Meanwhile in the losers room Kris was joined by Ashley and Marc-Andre who unfortunately ran out of fingers.
“No offence Ash, but Jordy is being an ass.” Flower joked as they each took a seat on one of the couches.
“He just likes to win, is all.” She said with a laugh.
“Lucky he’s on our team when it comes to hockey, eh?” Kris added and they agreed.
“Definitely.” Marc-Andre laughed.
Geno walked into the room and took a seat.
“Welcome to the losers’ lounge.” Ashley said to him, making him chuckle.
“Great.” He said.
“Where’d Max and Emily go?” Ashley asked, realizing that they should’ve been in there with them.
“They went in the other room.” Kris told her.
“Geno, you better watch out for Max. I wouldn’t leave my girl alone with him for more than two minutes.” Marc-Andre joked.
“Oh god. Geno, what would you do if she was in there getting some from Max?” Ashley laughed and Geno shook his head.
“I’d kill him.” He said. Kris suddenly felt completely and utterly uncomfortable being in the same room as him.
Luckily Max and Emily walked back into the room at that moment. Max went over and sat by Kris while Emily chose a spot next to Geno.
“Where were you two?” Ashley asked suspiciously.
“Just talking in private.” Max answered.
“About what?” Ash wasn’t giving up.
“Nothing that would concern you.” He replied again. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Okay, whatever you say.” Ashley gave in.
Geno was suddenly noticeably more protective of Emily. He had his arm around her waist and held her close to him. He didn’t like the thought of her being with other guys. She was his and he wanted everyone to know that.
“Max,” Kris whispered to his friend who was seated next to him, “Whatever you do, don’t let Geno find out about me and her. He would murder me.”
“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” Max whispered back.
Tyler, Lauren, and Sidney soon joined everyone else in the loser room. That left Chris, Leah, and Jordan in the game.
“Jordy is a sore winner.” Chris laughed as he walked into the room. Everyone else was just sitting around talking, Sid was still texting Ashlen, and Geno kept Emily as close to him as possible.
“No doubting that.” Max added.
“Yeah, well I gotta head out anyway. Maureen needs help with little Zach.” Chris told everyone, speaking about his wife and their nine month old son.
“Aw Chris you need to bring Zach to a game sometime. I wanna see him again.” Emily told him. Last time she got to see him, he really seemed to like her. She was good with little kids like that.
“Will do. See you guys later.” Chris said. Everyone else said their goodbyes and he left.
Not long after he left, both Leah and Jordan came into the room.
“Who won?” Marc-Andre asked. Jordan scowled at him, his arms folded across his chest.
“Her.” He said and everyone but Ashley clapped and laughed at him.
“That’s what you get for being a bitch.” Max said to him.
“Aw, Jordy it’ll be okay.” Ashley said, giving him a hug.
“At least I have you, that’s all that matters.” He said, hugging her back.
“Someone wants in her pants.” Tyler joked.
“Well at least she let’s me in them!” Jordan shot back. Lauren hid her face in her hands, embarrassed at the comment. She insisted on waiting until marriage, which Tyler didn’t completely agree with but didn’t argue about. He respected that.
“Shut up.” TK said, Jordan just smirked at him.
“Okay now, let’s calm ourselves down a bit.” Max said, trying to keep everyone friendly.
“I’m tired.” Emily yawned, trying to help change the subject as she rested her head on Geno’s shoulder.
“I’m bored.” Ashley added, “Sid, what else is there to do here?”
“Uh, I don’t know. We could watch a movie.” He suggested and everyone seemed agreed.
They all went down to Mario’s movie theater room and got situated in their seats. Ashley laid on Jordan, Tyler sat by and held hands with Lauren, Leah sat on the other side of Lauren and next to Max, on Max’s left was Kris, Sidney sat by Marc-Andre, and Geno sat with his arm around Emily. They unanimously chose to watch Sudden Death, because honestly, not many movies can get cooler and more intense than that.
The movie was about to the part where “Iceburgh” gets strangled in the dishwasher. Emily had her head resting on Geno’s chest. She wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the movie. She looked around without moving her head. Her and Geno were sitting in the back row of seats. In front of them Ashley and Jordan were making out, Sid, who was in the same row as them, was still texting Ashlen, and it seemed like everyone else was just watching the movie.
“You still tired?” Geno asked her quietly.
“A little.” She replied in a whisper, looking up at him.
“You’re eyes are incredible.” He whispered back, looking into her blue-green and brown eyes. She just smiled at the compliment. He tilted her chin up and kissed her. They made out for a few minutes and then separated for a moment. Evgeni smiled. He was so infatuated with her. He was jealous of any guy who she had ever been with just because they had all he ever wanted when he didn’t. Now that she was his he wanted to make up for lost time. He pressed his lips to hers again. For him, it couldn’t get much better than this.
“Don’t look now but Geno’s sure enjoying your girl back there.” Max whispered to Kris, who just shrugged.
“She’s not my girl yet. I can’t control what she does. She’s giving him a week so might as well let him enjoy it.” Kris whispered back, even though he really didn’t want her doing anything with Geno.
“So you wouldn’t care if they slept together tonight?” Max asked.
“Yeah I would care, but she wouldn’t do that. Besides, they’ve only been going out like two days.”
“So? You two weren’t even together when you guys did it.” Max pointed out.
“She’s not going to sleep with him.” Kris said firmly. He knew she wouldn’t, but thinking about it made him mad. He wished Max would just mind his own business.
“Okay, okay. But I can tell he wants to. Just warning ya.” Max whispered, sounding like he knew what he was talking about. Kris acted like he didn’t hear him and just stared at the screen for the rest of the movie.
When it was over it was time for everyone to leave. They said their goodbyes and went to their cars.
“I see you tomorrow?” Geno asked Emily as they stood outside in the light snow.
“Yeah, text me.” She replied.
“Okay.” He said and kissed her goodbye.
Once he had left Max came over to her.
“I just wanted to say thanks for trusting me and talking to me tonight.” He said with a smile.
“Same to you.” Emily said back, “Any luck with Leah yet?”
“Eh, not yet. But I’m working on it.” He said.
“Alright. Make sure you remember to talk to me if you ever any advice.” She reminded him.
“I will, and you be sure to come to me first if you need to talk about anything.”
“Thanks Max. I promise I will.” Emily said and hugged him. Luckily Geno had already left.
“Okay. I’ll see ya later.” He told her and went to his car.
The last person she was waiting to see before she left was Kris. He walked over to where she was standing by herself and shot her a small smile.
“Hey.” She said, a half smile on her face. She wasn’t really feeling happy but she wasn’t sad either.
“Hey.” He replied, studying her face. “What are you thinking?” He asked. He could tell something was on her mind.
“You don’t wanna know.” Emily sighed. There were a lot of things running through her mind. Mostly about how quickly her feelings changed depending on who she was with. Being with Geno made her feel so special and important. He treated her so well even though she didn’t deserve it. Being with Kris made her feel loved and carefree. He loved her even though she was with someone else. Being with both of them at the same time made her feel slightly awkward and like she didn’t deserve either one of them. They both wanted her for themselves, but she just couldn’t be both of theirs.
“Okay then, never mind.” He smirked.
“I’m sorry, Kris. I really am. I wish this was easier. I want to be with you, I really do.” She said, trying to convince herself as she said it. She loved him, she had to remember that.
“It’s okay. I know it’s hard.” He said as he hugged her. “Spend this week with Geno and then, like you said, it will have been enough time to be able to end it with him. It’s gonna be okay. I’m here for you always.”
“Thanks, Kris. I’m sorry for making us have to wait. I’ll make it up to you somehow. I promise.” Emily said, looking into his eyes.
“Okay.” He chuckled, making her smile. “I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you tomorrow probably.”
“Probably.” She nodded, “See ya.”
“Bye.” He said and left.
“What do you guys wanna do?” Sidney asked, they were all seated at Mario’s big kitchen table with various drinks in hand.
“We should play a game!” Lauren suggested happily.
“Like what?” Jordan asked.
“Ooh! I know!” Ashley yelled, “Let's play Never Have I Ever!”
“Oh my god! Yeah!” Emily laughed, remembering playing the game when she was younger. It was sure to be more interesting now.
“How do you play?” Kris asked, trying to avoid making too much eye contact with Emily. They both were. They didn’t want to start anything else tonight, especially with Geno and everyone else around.
“Well,” Ashley began to explain, “Everyone starts by holding up all ten of their fingers. Then we go around in a circle and each person says something that they've never done. And if someone else has done that before, they put one of their fingers down. The objective is to get everyone else out and the winner is the last one with fingers still up.”
“What do we get if we win?” Max asked curiously.
“A lap dance.” Lauren said, trying to sound serious.
“Ooh! I'm in!” Tyler shouted and everyone laughed.
“I was just kidding!” Lauren giggled and fake slapped him.
“Well does everybody have some cash on them?” Sid asked and everyone checked their pockets. They each set some money down on the table, adding up to 53 dollars and 25 cents total.
“So winner gets it all?” Max asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yepp, so absolutely no cheating. Got that guys?” Ash said, looking mostly at Max and Jordan.
“Babe, I would not cheat. Trust me.” Jordan said convincingly and everyone turned to look at Max.
“What? I'm not gonna cheat either!” He said defensively.
“Okay, okay.” Marc-Andre said, calming him down since they were seated right next to each other.
“So who's gonna start?” asked Sid, trying to get the game moving.
“Ash will.” Emily volunteered her friend on her left. “It was her idea.”
“Okay,” she started but was interrupted by Max.
“Wait, wait. Can it be anything, like anything?” he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrow.
“Yeah, Max. You can say anything you want as long as you've never done it before.” Emily told him and he smiled.
“Okay, got it.”
“Alright, well then.” Ashley smiled, thinking of a good one to start off with. "Never have I ever been to Canada.”
“Awe man, that's not fair!” Max protested and so did everyone else, but Leah.
“Babe, how could you?” Jordan asked in a fake devastated voice. It was obvious that all of the guys had been to Canada before. They were all born there, except for Geno. And Emily and Lauren had gone there when they were younger.
“Hey, I’m in it to win it.” She laughed and high-fived Leah from across the table, Leah being the only other one who didn't have to put a finger down.
“What ever, my turn.” Emily laughed and thought about what to say, “Never have I ever gone hunting.”
“Awe you bitch!” Ashley scowled. Being friends for as long as they had been, Emily knew she used to go hunting with her dad when she was younger.
“Hey, like you said, babe. She's in it to win it.” Jordan said and high-fived Emily similarly to the way Ash and Leah did a minute ago. Now they were two of the people putting a finger down, along with Tyler.
“Looks like TK's loosing!” Max pointed out after counting everyone's remaining fingers.
“Awe it's okay, Teek.” Lauren consoled her boyfriend. While she did that, Geno leaned over discreetly and whispered something in Emily's ear causing her to smile. Kris noticed and felt a pang of jealousy shoot through him. He didn't want to say anything though. He knew how she felt about him and that's all that mattered right now. And besides that little bit of envy he had just felt, things were going pretty smoothly. No one suspected anything about what had happened the previous night and it seemed as if their secret was safe.
“Alright guys, there's money on the line here! Let's focus!” Max said. It was obvious he wasn't planning on walking out of here empty handed.
“Geno's up.” Fleury pointed out and he smirked at him.
“Okay.” He said and prepared what he was going to say. “Never have I ever know how to speak French.”
“Awe.” All three of the French Canadians and Emily said as they put another finger down. That left Max, Kris, Flower, Tyler, and Emily in last place with 8 fingers left up.
“Okay, never have I ever had braces for my teeth.” Marc-Andre said and flashed a big smile showing his big teeth.
“Ha, you would!” Sid laughed and Emily, Ashley and Lauren put another finger down.
“Ooh! Look who's losing now!” Lauren teased Emily, trying to stick up for her man. Emily just stuck her tongue out at her.
“My turn! And you can't lie!” Max was obviously excited. “Okay, never have I ever slept with anyone that's in this room right now.”
Kris and Emily looked at each other with wide eyes. Lucky for them, Ash and Jordan distracted everyone else with their giggling as they both put a finger down. While the guys joked with them about it, Em and Kris had a silent conversation from across the table.
Kris shook his head no, very subtly, trying to tell her not to put a finger down.
She shrugged her shoulders slightly in response.
Kris sighed, knowing she didn't want to cheat. She promised she would never cheat again, and this counted. He knew if he wanted her to be with him he would have to show her he wasn't afraid to be honest, too. Fine, but don't let them see. He mouthed to her and she nodded in response.
“Okay, Leah's turn!” Emily said as a distraction.
“Hmm…” Leah thought about what to say as Kris and Emily each put a finger down. Thinking they were in the clear, they got back to focusing on the game.
Emily was about to look at Leah, who was still thinking, when she noticed Max looking at her with raised eyebrows. Oh god, he saw. Seeing the panic in her face, Max smiled sympathetically and made a zippering movement across his lips to assure her he wouldn't say anything.
“Never have I ever said the F word.” Leah finally said with a shrug of her shoulders. That got everyone's attention.
“Bull shit!” Max said, not believing she was telling the truth.
“I'm serious!” She said defensively.
“Never?” Chris asked in disbelief.
“Nope.”
“There's no way.” Sid said with a laugh.
“I'm not lying!” She assured them. While she tried to convince the rest of the guys, Emily noticed something different about Max. The way he was looking at Leah was as if he had seen her for the first time. He was completely smitten. Leah was different than any of the other girls he was used to being with, and the fact that she had never even dropped the F bomb proved it.
“Seriously guys, she never said it.” Lauren tried to assure everyone. They just sighed. Everyone but Leah put a finger down.
“Dude, that’s just crazy.” Ashley laughed.
“Whatever, it’s my turn.” Lauren said, a devious smile was on her face as she looked at Emily. “Never have I ever had the letter M in my first name.”
“What the hell kind of never is that?!” Emily protested. That left her with only four fingers up, the only one with less than one whole hand up.
“Yeah, really!?” Max added. Him and Marc-Andre were the other two that had M’s, leaving them each with six fingers.
“Looks like someone’s a sore loser.” Jordan laughed at the them.
“We haven’t lost yet.” Emily pointed out.
“Yeah, key word yet.” He smirked back.
“Whatever man. TK’s turn.” Max stuck his tongue out.
“Okay, uh.” Tyler thought for a minute, “Never have I ever been to Mexico.”
“Wow you suck.” Emily said, putting another finger down.
“Teek!” Lauren was shocked he’d say that considering she had gone to Mexico with Emily.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know!” He apologized but was smiling.
“Tanger’s turn!” Max announced, hoping he’d say something that’d keep his last six fingers up.
“Never have I ever been twenty three yet.” Kris said simply.
“Damn you.” Max shook his head disappointedly. He, along with Geno, Kunitz, Flower, and Tyler put a finger down.
“Sid, your turn.” Marc-Andre said to the captain, who wasn’t paying attention. He was looking down at his lap with his hands under the table.
“Dude, what are you doing?!” Max asked, getting Sidney’s attention.
“Huh? I’m texting Ashlen.” He said, holding up his phone.
“Well it’s your turn.” Chris informed him.
“Oh, okay. Never have I ever kissed someone from Russia.” Sid said and got back to his conversation with Ashlen.
“I love how I suck at this game so damn bad it’s not even funny.” Emily said, with only two fingers left.
“Well, I think it’s pretty funny.” Jordan laughed, mocking her with the seven fingers he still had up.
“Sorry.” Geno whispered to her, apologizing for being the only Russian she’d ever kissed.
“Don’t be sorry. I’m gonna lose whether you’re Russian or not.” She smiled at him. Him and Max were the other two to put fingers down.
“Alright, never have I ever been a girl.” Chris said using his turn.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Lauren complained.
“Sorry, I just couldn’t think of anything else to get Leah to put another finger down.” He joked. That was the first thing that Leah had done since Emily’s never, being going hunting.
“Looks like it’s my turn.” Jordan said, preparing something to say. He noticed Emily’s last finger being up and smirked at her. He knew something that he was sure everyone else had done before. “Never have I ever had brown hair.”
“You dick.” Max said, speaking for everyone. Jordan just laughed.
“Losers have to go in the living room.” He said to Emily, who was all out of fingers, pointing to the next room over.
“Thanks, Jordy.” She said as if it didn’t faze her and got out of her seat and walked into the living room by herself.
A few minutes later while waiting for someone else to get out and join her in the losers room, Emily heard Max and Jordy going at it.
“Max loses! No fingers, means no money. Get out.” Jordan said with a laugh.
“Yeah, I got a finger for ya.” Max shot back, flipping Jordy off as he walked into the living room.
Playing a game probably wasn’t the greatest idea considering how competitive all the guys could get.
“Looks like I’ll be joining you.” Max smiled, sitting down on the couch next to Emily.
“Yepp.” Emily said, hoping he’d forgotten about finding out about her and Kris.
He didn’t.
“So, you and Tanger? Is that where he was last night? He was trying to tell me some shit about his ‘Uncle François’. But I wasn’t buying that. I just had this feeling.” Max asked, an amused look on his face.
“Max, please please please don’t tell anyone. If Geno finds out I slept with Kris it’ll crush him. I really don’t want to hurt him.” Emily begged him.
“Don’t worry I won’t say anything, I promise.” Max said honestly. “But may I ask, how did that happen?”
“Well, he came over to my apartment and we got into a little fight and then he told me he was in love with me and I told him I was in love with him too and then we just kind of did it.” She smiled as she told him. It felt good being able to talk about it with someone, even if it was Max.
“Oooh, romantic.” Max said with a chuckle.
“And that was just the first time.” Emily added. For whatever reason, she felt compelled to tell him all about it while she had the chance. She trusted him to not tell anyone and she really wanted to talk about it.
“First out of how many?” Max asked, kind of surprised that she even trusted him enough to tell him. It seemed like everyone always doubted him or didn’t believe he could do things. It felt good to have someone finally trust him with something important.
“Two. And the second time was even better.” She gushed. It felt like she was talking to Ashley or another one of her girl friends, and she liked that.
“So I take it he was good?” Max chuckled.
“Good? More like incredible!” She said just as Kris walked into the room.
“Oh, hey Banger. I mean, Tanger.” Max joked, “We were just talking about you.”
Kris looked at Emily who just shrugged her shoulders.
“He knows.” She said.
“How’d you find out?” Kris asked him, not sure what else to say.
“François told me.” Max lied with a smirk.
“He pretty much figured it out himself. I told you he would be the one to put it together, but you insisted he couldn’t count.” Emily shook her head. Max was confused since he hadn’t been there for the conversation she was referring to.
“Oh.” Kris said simply.
“Yeah, man. And from what I hear, you’re like a beast in bed.” Max said. Emily hit him on the arm for saying that. “Ouch!”
“Thanks?” Kris said. He wasn’t exactly as comfortable talking about it with Max as Emily seemed to be.
“No problem, but if you don’t mind I’m gonna steal your secret lover for a moment.” Max said and then turned his attention to Emily. “I wanna talk to you about something in private.”
“Okay.” She said and he directed her into another room.
“We’ll be back in a bit.” Max told Kris and shut the door behind him.
They were in some kind of room that didn’t have much furniture besides a couch and some chairs. Mario’s house was huge, who knows what room this was.
“First of all,” Max started to ask once he was alone with Emily, “Are you planning on breaking up with Geno?”
“Yeah, I’m gonna have to. I’m probably going to give it at least a week though. I don’t have the heart to dump him without a reason and I’m not telling him about Kris.” She explained.
“Okay, I was just curious. But that’s not all I wanted to talk about.” He told her.
“Alright, then. Continue.”
“Well this is actually about me. I need to talk to someone about it and I figure since you were able to trust me with that, I can trust you with this.” Max told her, “I really like Leah.”
“Oh my god I knew it!”
“What? How’d you know?” He asked. He didn’t think it would be that easy to tell.
“Well its just in the way you look at her. I saw you watching her earlier and it’s like she put you under some sort of spell. Like you were hypnotized and she was all you could see.” Emily smiled at him, “I don’t know how to describe it exactly, but I just had a feeling.”
“Really?” He asked.
“Yeah.” She nodded, “So are you guys gonna hook up?”
“I want to, but I don’t know. I have the hardest time talking to her. I can never find the right words to say.” Max confessed.
“Well you’re gonna have to be a man and talk to her. She’s shy so just get her to warm up to you and you’ll be able to talk about anything and everything and it will be perfect. Trust me.”
“But what am I suppose to say? She’s different than the rest of the girls I’ve been with.”
“Just be yourself. Don’t worry about trying to impress anyone. She’ll like you for you.” Emily said, trying to convince him to trust her.
“Okay. Thanks.” He said genuinely.
“No problem. Remember I’m always here for you if you wanna talk.” Emily told him with a smile.
“You too. If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to talk to me about it. I’ll do whatever I can to help.” Max promised her sincerely.
“Thanks, Max. I’ll remember that.”
Meanwhile in the losers room Kris was joined by Ashley and Marc-Andre who unfortunately ran out of fingers.
“No offence Ash, but Jordy is being an ass.” Flower joked as they each took a seat on one of the couches.
“He just likes to win, is all.” She said with a laugh.
“Lucky he’s on our team when it comes to hockey, eh?” Kris added and they agreed.
“Definitely.” Marc-Andre laughed.
Geno walked into the room and took a seat.
“Welcome to the losers’ lounge.” Ashley said to him, making him chuckle.
“Great.” He said.
“Where’d Max and Emily go?” Ashley asked, realizing that they should’ve been in there with them.
“They went in the other room.” Kris told her.
“Geno, you better watch out for Max. I wouldn’t leave my girl alone with him for more than two minutes.” Marc-Andre joked.
“Oh god. Geno, what would you do if she was in there getting some from Max?” Ashley laughed and Geno shook his head.
“I’d kill him.” He said. Kris suddenly felt completely and utterly uncomfortable being in the same room as him.
Luckily Max and Emily walked back into the room at that moment. Max went over and sat by Kris while Emily chose a spot next to Geno.
“Where were you two?” Ashley asked suspiciously.
“Just talking in private.” Max answered.
“About what?” Ash wasn’t giving up.
“Nothing that would concern you.” He replied again. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Okay, whatever you say.” Ashley gave in.
Geno was suddenly noticeably more protective of Emily. He had his arm around her waist and held her close to him. He didn’t like the thought of her being with other guys. She was his and he wanted everyone to know that.
“Max,” Kris whispered to his friend who was seated next to him, “Whatever you do, don’t let Geno find out about me and her. He would murder me.”
“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” Max whispered back.
Tyler, Lauren, and Sidney soon joined everyone else in the loser room. That left Chris, Leah, and Jordan in the game.
“Jordy is a sore winner.” Chris laughed as he walked into the room. Everyone else was just sitting around talking, Sid was still texting Ashlen, and Geno kept Emily as close to him as possible.
“No doubting that.” Max added.
“Yeah, well I gotta head out anyway. Maureen needs help with little Zach.” Chris told everyone, speaking about his wife and their nine month old son.
“Aw Chris you need to bring Zach to a game sometime. I wanna see him again.” Emily told him. Last time she got to see him, he really seemed to like her. She was good with little kids like that.
“Will do. See you guys later.” Chris said. Everyone else said their goodbyes and he left.
Not long after he left, both Leah and Jordan came into the room.
“Who won?” Marc-Andre asked. Jordan scowled at him, his arms folded across his chest.
“Her.” He said and everyone but Ashley clapped and laughed at him.
“That’s what you get for being a bitch.” Max said to him.
“Aw, Jordy it’ll be okay.” Ashley said, giving him a hug.
“At least I have you, that’s all that matters.” He said, hugging her back.
“Someone wants in her pants.” Tyler joked.
“Well at least she let’s me in them!” Jordan shot back. Lauren hid her face in her hands, embarrassed at the comment. She insisted on waiting until marriage, which Tyler didn’t completely agree with but didn’t argue about. He respected that.
“Shut up.” TK said, Jordan just smirked at him.
“Okay now, let’s calm ourselves down a bit.” Max said, trying to keep everyone friendly.
“I’m tired.” Emily yawned, trying to help change the subject as she rested her head on Geno’s shoulder.
“I’m bored.” Ashley added, “Sid, what else is there to do here?”
“Uh, I don’t know. We could watch a movie.” He suggested and everyone seemed agreed.
They all went down to Mario’s movie theater room and got situated in their seats. Ashley laid on Jordan, Tyler sat by and held hands with Lauren, Leah sat on the other side of Lauren and next to Max, on Max’s left was Kris, Sidney sat by Marc-Andre, and Geno sat with his arm around Emily. They unanimously chose to watch Sudden Death, because honestly, not many movies can get cooler and more intense than that.
The movie was about to the part where “Iceburgh” gets strangled in the dishwasher. Emily had her head resting on Geno’s chest. She wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the movie. She looked around without moving her head. Her and Geno were sitting in the back row of seats. In front of them Ashley and Jordan were making out, Sid, who was in the same row as them, was still texting Ashlen, and it seemed like everyone else was just watching the movie.
“You still tired?” Geno asked her quietly.
“A little.” She replied in a whisper, looking up at him.
“You’re eyes are incredible.” He whispered back, looking into her blue-green and brown eyes. She just smiled at the compliment. He tilted her chin up and kissed her. They made out for a few minutes and then separated for a moment. Evgeni smiled. He was so infatuated with her. He was jealous of any guy who she had ever been with just because they had all he ever wanted when he didn’t. Now that she was his he wanted to make up for lost time. He pressed his lips to hers again. For him, it couldn’t get much better than this.
“Don’t look now but Geno’s sure enjoying your girl back there.” Max whispered to Kris, who just shrugged.
“She’s not my girl yet. I can’t control what she does. She’s giving him a week so might as well let him enjoy it.” Kris whispered back, even though he really didn’t want her doing anything with Geno.
“So you wouldn’t care if they slept together tonight?” Max asked.
“Yeah I would care, but she wouldn’t do that. Besides, they’ve only been going out like two days.”
“So? You two weren’t even together when you guys did it.” Max pointed out.
“She’s not going to sleep with him.” Kris said firmly. He knew she wouldn’t, but thinking about it made him mad. He wished Max would just mind his own business.
“Okay, okay. But I can tell he wants to. Just warning ya.” Max whispered, sounding like he knew what he was talking about. Kris acted like he didn’t hear him and just stared at the screen for the rest of the movie.
When it was over it was time for everyone to leave. They said their goodbyes and went to their cars.
“I see you tomorrow?” Geno asked Emily as they stood outside in the light snow.
“Yeah, text me.” She replied.
“Okay.” He said and kissed her goodbye.
Once he had left Max came over to her.
“I just wanted to say thanks for trusting me and talking to me tonight.” He said with a smile.
“Same to you.” Emily said back, “Any luck with Leah yet?”
“Eh, not yet. But I’m working on it.” He said.
“Alright. Make sure you remember to talk to me if you ever any advice.” She reminded him.
“I will, and you be sure to come to me first if you need to talk about anything.”
“Thanks Max. I promise I will.” Emily said and hugged him. Luckily Geno had already left.
“Okay. I’ll see ya later.” He told her and went to his car.
The last person she was waiting to see before she left was Kris. He walked over to where she was standing by herself and shot her a small smile.
“Hey.” She said, a half smile on her face. She wasn’t really feeling happy but she wasn’t sad either.
“Hey.” He replied, studying her face. “What are you thinking?” He asked. He could tell something was on her mind.
“You don’t wanna know.” Emily sighed. There were a lot of things running through her mind. Mostly about how quickly her feelings changed depending on who she was with. Being with Geno made her feel so special and important. He treated her so well even though she didn’t deserve it. Being with Kris made her feel loved and carefree. He loved her even though she was with someone else. Being with both of them at the same time made her feel slightly awkward and like she didn’t deserve either one of them. They both wanted her for themselves, but she just couldn’t be both of theirs.
“Okay then, never mind.” He smirked.
“I’m sorry, Kris. I really am. I wish this was easier. I want to be with you, I really do.” She said, trying to convince herself as she said it. She loved him, she had to remember that.
“It’s okay. I know it’s hard.” He said as he hugged her. “Spend this week with Geno and then, like you said, it will have been enough time to be able to end it with him. It’s gonna be okay. I’m here for you always.”
“Thanks, Kris. I’m sorry for making us have to wait. I’ll make it up to you somehow. I promise.” Emily said, looking into his eyes.
“Okay.” He chuckled, making her smile. “I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you tomorrow probably.”
“Probably.” She nodded, “See ya.”
“Bye.” He said and left.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Chapter Twelve;
There was an hour and a half until game time when everyone started showing up in the locker room. So far Emily, Ashley, Lauren, Leah, Max, Tyler, Sidney, Jordan, and some of the other players were there. They were all just hanging out, waiting for other guys to get there.
“Where are you guys’ seats?” Jordan asked the girls.
“Right up against the glass on the side you guys shoot twice.” Ashley answered with a smile. She seemed extra excited for some reason.
“Nice. I’ll be sure to be in that end for…” Jordan winked, purposely not finishing his sentence. Ashley just smiled. Her glittery sign was in her purse. Emily just rolled her eyes and smiled to herself about their secretiveness. It wasn’t really necessary.
“Hey! There he is!” Max cheered as Evgeni walked in the room. Emily turned around, facing him now. She just smiled, not sure what to say. He smiled back.
“Hey.” He said to her and gave her a hug, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” She said back. The rest of their friends made ‘oohing’ and ‘awing’ sounds at them as they talked. They tried to ignore them.
“You look beautiful.” Geno told her making her smile. Being with him reminded her what made her fall for him that night. He was adorably cute and so, so sweet.
“Thanks Geno.” Emily smiled, trying not to think about last night.
“No, I thank you.” He started, “I like you for long time and I thank you for giving me chance to be with you.”
Emily couldn’t believe how incredibly sweet he was. Telling him about Kris was not an option. She would never dream of hurting him like that. He deserved so much better than her.
Geno pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips to hers. At that moment, Kris walked into the room. Max, who had been trying to think of something to talk to Leah about, noticed him first and was worried what his reaction to their kiss would be. To Max’s surprise Kris didn’t seem phased by it at all. He just smiled and waved to the rest of the guys. His face didn’t show the hint of jealousy he was really feeling inside. Kris knew she loved him, she told him that. He would just have to put up with her and Geno being together for a little bit longer.
It wasn’t until Emily and Geno’s lips separated that she noticed Kris was there. She smiled at him when he looked at her, he smiled back but didn’t say anything to her. He secretly hoped that she was in the middle of breaking up with him, but he knew she wouldn’t be that heartless.
“Hey Tanger.” Jordan greeted him with a grin.
“Hey.” He replied as he walked up to where him and Ashley, Sidney, Lauren and Tyler, and Max and Leah were standing.
“You feeling better today?” Jordy asked Kris, who didn’t know exactly what he meant.
“I told him how you were feeling kinda sick after practice yesterday.” Max cut in to save Kris from saying something he’d regret.
“Oh, yeah. I’m better now.” Kris said, catching on to what Max said. He smiled at him to show he appreciated it.
“Good. We all gotta kick my brother’s ass today. I’m not letting him outta here with a win.” Jordan said and everyone agreed and laughed.
“Oooh, Jordy, make sure he sees my sign!” Ashley said laughing.
“Okay, I can’t wait to see it myself.” He replied.
“You’re gonna love it, trust me.” Emily said, joining in the conversation as her and Geno stepped back into their group. He was holding her hand, which wouldn’t have been weird for her, except for the fact that Kris was standing right next to them. She couldn’t wait for this all to be figured out so it wasn’t awkward to be with both of them at the same time, but she didn’t know how, when, or even if that would happen.
When it was almost time for the game to start, all the girls gave their boyfriends good luck kisses, except for Leah and Max although they both secretly wanted to, and then went to their seats. The game started off relatively slow. Though there were a lot of good chances, both the Penguins and Rangers were scoreless after the first period. Eleven minutes into the second period, Sergei Gonchar slapped one in the net on a power play, assisted by Evgeni and Kris, putting the Pens up 1-0. Three minutes later a goal by Chris Drury of the Rangers tied the game at one. It was now the start of the third period. As the guys skated back out onto the ice and towards their bench, Jordan met up with Marc.
“So we gonna do this or what, Ginger?” He asked his older brother with an excited smirk on his face.
“Yeah and for all the shit you’re talking you better back it up.” Marc laughed.
“Will do.” Jordan promised.
“Alright, just wait for the right moment. Don’t wanna make it look staged.” Marc told him.
“Yeah, yeah. Get ready for the beat down of your life.”
“Like I said before, you’re on.” Marc told him and skated to his bench with a grin on his face. Jordan did the same.
Sidney was out to take the face off with Guerin and Kunitz on the wing with Orpik and Gonchar on D. On the other side of the glass the girls watched as the puck dropped. Sidney won the face off easily and they started to get the puck down the ice. They shot with no luck. Eventually the lines changed for both teams. Both Staals were on the ice.
“Get your sign ready.” Emily told Ashley who held it up right as Jordan slammed his brother into the glass right in front of her.
The two of them stood there, holding each others jerseys, pre-fight talking.
“You see Ash’s sign?” Jordy asked his brother, laughing to himself about what it said.
“Yeah, you ready for this, sexy blonde?” Marc asked, ready to drop the gloves.
“I was born ready.” Jordan said and let his gloves drop to the ice.
The refs blew their whistles, stopping play as Jordan and Marc skated around in circles a fair distance apart. Jordan took the first shot, but couldn’t help laughing as he did so. Marc fought back, but like his brother, couldn’t keep a straight face. They each threw punches back and forth until they eventually fell to the ice, with Jordan landing on top. The refs came over and had to pull them off of each other. As they each skated to the penalty box they argued over who won. It was one hell of a pathetic fight, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it and the rest of the guys got a kick out of it.
“That’s my Jordy.” Ashley proudly said. Emily just laughed.
Not long after the ‘fight’, Sidney, who was thinking about Ashlen the whole time, scored on a breakaway giving the Pens the lead. And minutes later Evgeni snuck one past Lundqvist, giving the Pens a 3-1 lead.
That ended up being the final score of the game. The crowd cheered as Geno skated onto the ice as the first star of the game. He threw his stick into the crowd and walked off the ice where he was greeted by his girlfriend.
“You did amazing tonight!” Emily said giving him a hug.
“Thanks.” He smiled. “Was all for you.”
“Aw.” She smiled up at him. He was insanely tall standing next to her with his skates still on.
“Yo, shower up and let’s get outta here. Party at Sid’s.” Max announced to them.
“Okay, I’ll see you in a little bit then.” Emily said to Geno, knowing he had to go shower and change.
“Okay.” He smiled and went to go get cleaned up.
Before Emily could go back where her sister and friends were, Kris stopped her. He was out of his skates and most of his gear but he hadn’t showered yet.
“Hey.” He said, his tone not showing how he was feeling.
“Hey, good game.” She congratulated him with a small smile.
“Thanks.” He told her. “You going back to Sid’s?”
“Yeah I think so.” She said. They were silent for a moment.
“So,” Kris started to say, “How’s Geno?” He asked, though he was really trying to ask when she was going to dump him.
“Kris, I can’t break up with him tonight. I really can’t bring myself to do it.” She told him honestly. He looked down at his feet.
“Oh.”
“I will though, just not yet.” She added quickly. She didn’t want him to take it the wrong way. She wanted to be with him, she loved him. “Just give me a week with him, and then it will have been enough time that I can legitimately say that it’s not working or come up with something else to tell him so I don’t hurt him too bad. I suck at breakups.”
Kris nodded, understanding what she was saying.
“Okay. Take your time, but try not to take too long.” He said with a smirk on his face, “One special night with you just isn’t enough for me.”
“I’m not sure if you mean just spending time with me or the sex, but either way I agree.” She said so no one else would hear and smiled at him. He just grinned in response. “Go get showered so we can all get out of here.”
“Okay. See ya later best friend.” He said and walked to the showers.
Emily just stood there smiling as she watched him walk away. It amazed her how quickly she forgot about how sweet Geno was to her when she was with Kris, and how being with Geno made it impossible for her to consider breaking up with him.
“What was that about?” Ashley asked her, having noticed she had been talking to Kris. Ash knew Emily wasn’t completely over him, but that was pretty much all she knew about them.
“Just talking.” Emily shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh. Well come on. As soon as Sid and Jordan are done with their interviews we’re outta here.” She told her, grinning.
“Sounds good to me.” Emily agreed and followed her out.
“Where are you guys’ seats?” Jordan asked the girls.
“Right up against the glass on the side you guys shoot twice.” Ashley answered with a smile. She seemed extra excited for some reason.
“Nice. I’ll be sure to be in that end for…” Jordan winked, purposely not finishing his sentence. Ashley just smiled. Her glittery sign was in her purse. Emily just rolled her eyes and smiled to herself about their secretiveness. It wasn’t really necessary.
“Hey! There he is!” Max cheered as Evgeni walked in the room. Emily turned around, facing him now. She just smiled, not sure what to say. He smiled back.
“Hey.” He said to her and gave her a hug, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” She said back. The rest of their friends made ‘oohing’ and ‘awing’ sounds at them as they talked. They tried to ignore them.
“You look beautiful.” Geno told her making her smile. Being with him reminded her what made her fall for him that night. He was adorably cute and so, so sweet.
“Thanks Geno.” Emily smiled, trying not to think about last night.
“No, I thank you.” He started, “I like you for long time and I thank you for giving me chance to be with you.”
Emily couldn’t believe how incredibly sweet he was. Telling him about Kris was not an option. She would never dream of hurting him like that. He deserved so much better than her.
Geno pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips to hers. At that moment, Kris walked into the room. Max, who had been trying to think of something to talk to Leah about, noticed him first and was worried what his reaction to their kiss would be. To Max’s surprise Kris didn’t seem phased by it at all. He just smiled and waved to the rest of the guys. His face didn’t show the hint of jealousy he was really feeling inside. Kris knew she loved him, she told him that. He would just have to put up with her and Geno being together for a little bit longer.
It wasn’t until Emily and Geno’s lips separated that she noticed Kris was there. She smiled at him when he looked at her, he smiled back but didn’t say anything to her. He secretly hoped that she was in the middle of breaking up with him, but he knew she wouldn’t be that heartless.
“Hey Tanger.” Jordan greeted him with a grin.
“Hey.” He replied as he walked up to where him and Ashley, Sidney, Lauren and Tyler, and Max and Leah were standing.
“You feeling better today?” Jordy asked Kris, who didn’t know exactly what he meant.
“I told him how you were feeling kinda sick after practice yesterday.” Max cut in to save Kris from saying something he’d regret.
“Oh, yeah. I’m better now.” Kris said, catching on to what Max said. He smiled at him to show he appreciated it.
“Good. We all gotta kick my brother’s ass today. I’m not letting him outta here with a win.” Jordan said and everyone agreed and laughed.
“Oooh, Jordy, make sure he sees my sign!” Ashley said laughing.
“Okay, I can’t wait to see it myself.” He replied.
“You’re gonna love it, trust me.” Emily said, joining in the conversation as her and Geno stepped back into their group. He was holding her hand, which wouldn’t have been weird for her, except for the fact that Kris was standing right next to them. She couldn’t wait for this all to be figured out so it wasn’t awkward to be with both of them at the same time, but she didn’t know how, when, or even if that would happen.
When it was almost time for the game to start, all the girls gave their boyfriends good luck kisses, except for Leah and Max although they both secretly wanted to, and then went to their seats. The game started off relatively slow. Though there were a lot of good chances, both the Penguins and Rangers were scoreless after the first period. Eleven minutes into the second period, Sergei Gonchar slapped one in the net on a power play, assisted by Evgeni and Kris, putting the Pens up 1-0. Three minutes later a goal by Chris Drury of the Rangers tied the game at one. It was now the start of the third period. As the guys skated back out onto the ice and towards their bench, Jordan met up with Marc.
“So we gonna do this or what, Ginger?” He asked his older brother with an excited smirk on his face.
“Yeah and for all the shit you’re talking you better back it up.” Marc laughed.
“Will do.” Jordan promised.
“Alright, just wait for the right moment. Don’t wanna make it look staged.” Marc told him.
“Yeah, yeah. Get ready for the beat down of your life.”
“Like I said before, you’re on.” Marc told him and skated to his bench with a grin on his face. Jordan did the same.
Sidney was out to take the face off with Guerin and Kunitz on the wing with Orpik and Gonchar on D. On the other side of the glass the girls watched as the puck dropped. Sidney won the face off easily and they started to get the puck down the ice. They shot with no luck. Eventually the lines changed for both teams. Both Staals were on the ice.
“Get your sign ready.” Emily told Ashley who held it up right as Jordan slammed his brother into the glass right in front of her.
The two of them stood there, holding each others jerseys, pre-fight talking.
“You see Ash’s sign?” Jordy asked his brother, laughing to himself about what it said.
“Yeah, you ready for this, sexy blonde?” Marc asked, ready to drop the gloves.
“I was born ready.” Jordan said and let his gloves drop to the ice.
The refs blew their whistles, stopping play as Jordan and Marc skated around in circles a fair distance apart. Jordan took the first shot, but couldn’t help laughing as he did so. Marc fought back, but like his brother, couldn’t keep a straight face. They each threw punches back and forth until they eventually fell to the ice, with Jordan landing on top. The refs came over and had to pull them off of each other. As they each skated to the penalty box they argued over who won. It was one hell of a pathetic fight, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it and the rest of the guys got a kick out of it.
“That’s my Jordy.” Ashley proudly said. Emily just laughed.
Not long after the ‘fight’, Sidney, who was thinking about Ashlen the whole time, scored on a breakaway giving the Pens the lead. And minutes later Evgeni snuck one past Lundqvist, giving the Pens a 3-1 lead.
That ended up being the final score of the game. The crowd cheered as Geno skated onto the ice as the first star of the game. He threw his stick into the crowd and walked off the ice where he was greeted by his girlfriend.
“You did amazing tonight!” Emily said giving him a hug.
“Thanks.” He smiled. “Was all for you.”
“Aw.” She smiled up at him. He was insanely tall standing next to her with his skates still on.
“Yo, shower up and let’s get outta here. Party at Sid’s.” Max announced to them.
“Okay, I’ll see you in a little bit then.” Emily said to Geno, knowing he had to go shower and change.
“Okay.” He smiled and went to go get cleaned up.
Before Emily could go back where her sister and friends were, Kris stopped her. He was out of his skates and most of his gear but he hadn’t showered yet.
“Hey.” He said, his tone not showing how he was feeling.
“Hey, good game.” She congratulated him with a small smile.
“Thanks.” He told her. “You going back to Sid’s?”
“Yeah I think so.” She said. They were silent for a moment.
“So,” Kris started to say, “How’s Geno?” He asked, though he was really trying to ask when she was going to dump him.
“Kris, I can’t break up with him tonight. I really can’t bring myself to do it.” She told him honestly. He looked down at his feet.
“Oh.”
“I will though, just not yet.” She added quickly. She didn’t want him to take it the wrong way. She wanted to be with him, she loved him. “Just give me a week with him, and then it will have been enough time that I can legitimately say that it’s not working or come up with something else to tell him so I don’t hurt him too bad. I suck at breakups.”
Kris nodded, understanding what she was saying.
“Okay. Take your time, but try not to take too long.” He said with a smirk on his face, “One special night with you just isn’t enough for me.”
“I’m not sure if you mean just spending time with me or the sex, but either way I agree.” She said so no one else would hear and smiled at him. He just grinned in response. “Go get showered so we can all get out of here.”
“Okay. See ya later best friend.” He said and walked to the showers.
Emily just stood there smiling as she watched him walk away. It amazed her how quickly she forgot about how sweet Geno was to her when she was with Kris, and how being with Geno made it impossible for her to consider breaking up with him.
“What was that about?” Ashley asked her, having noticed she had been talking to Kris. Ash knew Emily wasn’t completely over him, but that was pretty much all she knew about them.
“Just talking.” Emily shrugged her shoulders.
“Oh. Well come on. As soon as Sid and Jordan are done with their interviews we’re outta here.” She told her, grinning.
“Sounds good to me.” Emily agreed and followed her out.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Chapter Eleven;
Kris couldn’t stop thinking about Emily as he unlocked the door of his apartment. He wished Geno wouldn’t have asked her to be his girlfriend. Since he did, Kris had to keep everything a secret. He wanted to be able to kiss Emily in public. To tell her he loved her and hear her say it back without feeling guilty. But he couldn’t. Not yet.
As Kris walked into his apartment, he was surprised to see that the lights were on. He was even more surprised to hear that the TV was on. But what surprised him the most was seeing Max, passed out on his couch.
“What the hell?” He asked loudly, causing Max to twitch a bit. “Max!” Kris yelled and Max’s eyes opened.
“Huh?” He said, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, Tanger. Oh!” He said, fully awake now.
“What are you doing here?” Kris asked feeling confused.
“I stopped by after practice with Philippe to check on you. But you weren’t here so I decided to wait for you and I guess I fell asleep.” He explained, “Where were you?”
“I was visiting my uncle François.” Kris lied smoothly, remembering his story.
“Why didn’t you answer any of my calls?”
“I left my phone in the car. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.” Kris told him. Max seemed to be buying it.
“Well, do you still feel like that?” Max asked, really meaning if he was still pissed about Geno and Emily.
“No, I’m good. I worked things out.” Kris said with a subtle smile.
“That’s good to hear.” Max said genuinely.
“Yeah, now um. No offense, but you should probably…”
“Don’t say it.” Max stopped him, “I’m going. Don’t you worry about it.”
“Okay. I wasn’t worrying anyway.” Kris said, a grin was on his face.
“Alrighty then. I’ll see ya at the arena.” Max said, getting up from the couch. He studied Kris’s face for a moment, thinking to himself about something, and then headed towards the door.
“See you there.” Kris waved. Max just smiled and left, leaving Kris to go shower and get ready for the game.
“Thanks for not answering me yesterday.” Ashley said jokingly as if she were mad at Emily for ignoring her.
“I’m sorry, I was so lazy all day I didn’t even realize my phone was off.” She lied but Ashley didn’t question her. Ashley had just gotten to Em’s apartment where she was planning on finishing getting ready for the game. “What did you wanna talk about anyway?” Emily asked her.
“I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out with me, Jordy and Marc.” Ashley replied simply.
“Oh god. Did you make fun of his hair?” Emily asked, knowing the answer.
Ashley just smiled, signaling a big fat yes. She knew her too well.
“You’re awful.” Emily laughed, “Remember Ryan? It took me weeks to find out that he actually had a name, you called him Ginge so much!”
“Oh my god he hated me so bad!” Ashley laughed at the memories. “But you were so in love with him!”
“I was so nawt! That kid was a creeper!” She yelled. Ashley had tried to convince Emily to date the kid, insisting that they’d make a great couple. She was so wrong.
“Whatever you say…” Ash laughed, “But back to Marc…”
“What about him?”
“Well, him and Jordan told me not to say anything to anyone but you’re my best friend so I’m telling you anyway.” She said, making Emily feel even more guilty about the previous night she couldn’t tell her about.
“Telling me what?” She asked.
“They’re gonna fight today in the game.” Ashley smiled.
“Fight? Why?” Emily asked.
“Well they were messing with each other about their hair colors and Jordy challenged him. Said it’d be fun.” Ashley explained, “Oh and I made a sign to take!”
Ashley pulled a big rolled up piece of paper out of her oversized bag and handed it to Emily. She unrolled it and read what it said out loud.
“Hey Ginge, my money’s on the sexy blonde!” She read and laughed, “Oh my god, you would.”
“Haha I know, right?”
“Yeah, well I’m gonna go change. You can do whatever.” Emily told her and quickly went to her room to put on what she was wearing to the game. She picked out a pair of skinny jeans from AE, a light blue and white button down from Hollister with a dark blue cami underneath. She put a pair of small diamond studs in her ears and her lock and key Swarovski crystal necklace on. For her makeup she only put on a tiny bit of mascara and eyeliner. Not wanting to do anything special with her hair plus the fact it was cold out, she put on a white knit hat from Abercrombie.
Once she was done, she walked out of her room. Ashley was sitting on the couch putting glitter on the sign she made.
“Oooh. Looking good for your new beau?” Ash asked, impressed with Emily’s outfit.
“Sure, why not.” She replied. No use arguing against it.
“How do I look? Is my hair alright?” Ashley asked, fussing with her dark brown hair. She straightened it and pinned her bangs back out of her face.
“You look great, seriously. Your hair’s gorgeous.” Emily told her. Ashley had an obsession with asking how she looked. She would ask if she looked alright over and over again, no matter how many times you told her she looked perfect.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, thanks.” Ash said and put the finishing touches on the sign. “Like it?”
“Love it.” Em laughed as she read it over again. Jordy’d get a kick out of it.
“So, how’s Geno?” Ashley asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since Friday night.” Emily said. She felt like she should call him and talk to him right now, but she didn’t really want to. To be honest, she didn’t know what she would say. She hoped that when she saw him in person it wouldn’t be awkward talking to him. Yet, if it was, it could be a good excuse to break up with him.
“You better talk to him today! He’s your boyfriend!” Ashley reminded her.
“I know, I will.”
“So, do you think Kris found out yet?” Ash asked, sounding like she wanted him to know and to be jealous. That was her plan in the first place.
“Yeah I think he knows.” Emily told her, “But I don’t want to rub it in his face or anything. I wouldn’t go out with Geno just to piss him off. He‘s my friend.”
“Oh. Well, does that mean your feelings for him are just, like, gone?”
Emily sighed at the question.
“Not quite.”
Max stood outside of Kris’s apartment building with his hands in his pockets as he stared straight ahead at nothing in particular. He didn’t want to bother Tanger anymore, but he had a slight transportation problem. He had forgotten that he rode there with Boucher, and now that Boucher was at his house, he had no way of leaving.
Deciding against standing in the freezing cold for too much longer, Max pulled out his cell phone and dialed the first number that came to mind. It only took two rings for him to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, TK. It’s Max. I was just wondering what you were up to.”
“Oh hey. I’m just on my way to pick up Laur and Leah.”
“That’s cool. You think maybe you could come pick me up to?”
“Um, yeah sure. Where you at?”
“Tanger’s place.”
“Alright. I’m, like, almost there now. I’ll be there in couple minutes.”
“Okay, thanks man. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. See you in a few.”
“Okay, bye.” Max said and ended the call.
It was nearly twelve when Lauren heard a knock at Leah’s door. They were both dressed and ready for the day.
“I’ll get it!” Lauren yelled happily as she skipped to the door. She opened it swiftly and was surprised to see Max standing alongside Tyler.
“Hey Laur.” TK said and gave her a hug.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me Max was coming.” Lauren said, emphasizing Max’s name so that Leah would hear and come to see him. It worked.
“Yeah, he needed a ride so I brought him with me.” Tyler explained as Leah walked into the room.
“Hey Leah.” Max said shyly as he stepped around Tyler and walked into the room.
“Hi Max.” Leah replied nervously. Something about him made her freeze up and forget how to think straight.
“You look nice.” He told her awkwardly.
“Thanks. You look nice too.” Leah said back, not sure what else to say.
“Aren’t they cute?” Lauren whispered to Tyler so they couldn’t hear.
“Adorable.” TK said, rolling his eyes. Max seemed pathetic, not knowing what to say. He was never like that.
“Be nice.” Lauren warned him. Tyler just chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Whatever you say, babe.”
As Kris walked into his apartment, he was surprised to see that the lights were on. He was even more surprised to hear that the TV was on. But what surprised him the most was seeing Max, passed out on his couch.
“What the hell?” He asked loudly, causing Max to twitch a bit. “Max!” Kris yelled and Max’s eyes opened.
“Huh?” He said, rubbing his eyes. “Oh, Tanger. Oh!” He said, fully awake now.
“What are you doing here?” Kris asked feeling confused.
“I stopped by after practice with Philippe to check on you. But you weren’t here so I decided to wait for you and I guess I fell asleep.” He explained, “Where were you?”
“I was visiting my uncle François.” Kris lied smoothly, remembering his story.
“Why didn’t you answer any of my calls?”
“I left my phone in the car. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.” Kris told him. Max seemed to be buying it.
“Well, do you still feel like that?” Max asked, really meaning if he was still pissed about Geno and Emily.
“No, I’m good. I worked things out.” Kris said with a subtle smile.
“That’s good to hear.” Max said genuinely.
“Yeah, now um. No offense, but you should probably…”
“Don’t say it.” Max stopped him, “I’m going. Don’t you worry about it.”
“Okay. I wasn’t worrying anyway.” Kris said, a grin was on his face.
“Alrighty then. I’ll see ya at the arena.” Max said, getting up from the couch. He studied Kris’s face for a moment, thinking to himself about something, and then headed towards the door.
“See you there.” Kris waved. Max just smiled and left, leaving Kris to go shower and get ready for the game.
“Thanks for not answering me yesterday.” Ashley said jokingly as if she were mad at Emily for ignoring her.
“I’m sorry, I was so lazy all day I didn’t even realize my phone was off.” She lied but Ashley didn’t question her. Ashley had just gotten to Em’s apartment where she was planning on finishing getting ready for the game. “What did you wanna talk about anyway?” Emily asked her.
“I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out with me, Jordy and Marc.” Ashley replied simply.
“Oh god. Did you make fun of his hair?” Emily asked, knowing the answer.
Ashley just smiled, signaling a big fat yes. She knew her too well.
“You’re awful.” Emily laughed, “Remember Ryan? It took me weeks to find out that he actually had a name, you called him Ginge so much!”
“Oh my god he hated me so bad!” Ashley laughed at the memories. “But you were so in love with him!”
“I was so nawt! That kid was a creeper!” She yelled. Ashley had tried to convince Emily to date the kid, insisting that they’d make a great couple. She was so wrong.
“Whatever you say…” Ash laughed, “But back to Marc…”
“What about him?”
“Well, him and Jordan told me not to say anything to anyone but you’re my best friend so I’m telling you anyway.” She said, making Emily feel even more guilty about the previous night she couldn’t tell her about.
“Telling me what?” She asked.
“They’re gonna fight today in the game.” Ashley smiled.
“Fight? Why?” Emily asked.
“Well they were messing with each other about their hair colors and Jordy challenged him. Said it’d be fun.” Ashley explained, “Oh and I made a sign to take!”
Ashley pulled a big rolled up piece of paper out of her oversized bag and handed it to Emily. She unrolled it and read what it said out loud.
“Hey Ginge, my money’s on the sexy blonde!” She read and laughed, “Oh my god, you would.”
“Haha I know, right?”
“Yeah, well I’m gonna go change. You can do whatever.” Emily told her and quickly went to her room to put on what she was wearing to the game. She picked out a pair of skinny jeans from AE, a light blue and white button down from Hollister with a dark blue cami underneath. She put a pair of small diamond studs in her ears and her lock and key Swarovski crystal necklace on. For her makeup she only put on a tiny bit of mascara and eyeliner. Not wanting to do anything special with her hair plus the fact it was cold out, she put on a white knit hat from Abercrombie.
Once she was done, she walked out of her room. Ashley was sitting on the couch putting glitter on the sign she made.
“Oooh. Looking good for your new beau?” Ash asked, impressed with Emily’s outfit.
“Sure, why not.” She replied. No use arguing against it.
“How do I look? Is my hair alright?” Ashley asked, fussing with her dark brown hair. She straightened it and pinned her bangs back out of her face.
“You look great, seriously. Your hair’s gorgeous.” Emily told her. Ashley had an obsession with asking how she looked. She would ask if she looked alright over and over again, no matter how many times you told her she looked perfect.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay, thanks.” Ash said and put the finishing touches on the sign. “Like it?”
“Love it.” Em laughed as she read it over again. Jordy’d get a kick out of it.
“So, how’s Geno?” Ashley asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since Friday night.” Emily said. She felt like she should call him and talk to him right now, but she didn’t really want to. To be honest, she didn’t know what she would say. She hoped that when she saw him in person it wouldn’t be awkward talking to him. Yet, if it was, it could be a good excuse to break up with him.
“You better talk to him today! He’s your boyfriend!” Ashley reminded her.
“I know, I will.”
“So, do you think Kris found out yet?” Ash asked, sounding like she wanted him to know and to be jealous. That was her plan in the first place.
“Yeah I think he knows.” Emily told her, “But I don’t want to rub it in his face or anything. I wouldn’t go out with Geno just to piss him off. He‘s my friend.”
“Oh. Well, does that mean your feelings for him are just, like, gone?”
Emily sighed at the question.
“Not quite.”
Max stood outside of Kris’s apartment building with his hands in his pockets as he stared straight ahead at nothing in particular. He didn’t want to bother Tanger anymore, but he had a slight transportation problem. He had forgotten that he rode there with Boucher, and now that Boucher was at his house, he had no way of leaving.
Deciding against standing in the freezing cold for too much longer, Max pulled out his cell phone and dialed the first number that came to mind. It only took two rings for him to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey, TK. It’s Max. I was just wondering what you were up to.”
“Oh hey. I’m just on my way to pick up Laur and Leah.”
“That’s cool. You think maybe you could come pick me up to?”
“Um, yeah sure. Where you at?”
“Tanger’s place.”
“Alright. I’m, like, almost there now. I’ll be there in couple minutes.”
“Okay, thanks man. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. See you in a few.”
“Okay, bye.” Max said and ended the call.
It was nearly twelve when Lauren heard a knock at Leah’s door. They were both dressed and ready for the day.
“I’ll get it!” Lauren yelled happily as she skipped to the door. She opened it swiftly and was surprised to see Max standing alongside Tyler.
“Hey Laur.” TK said and gave her a hug.
“Hey, you didn’t tell me Max was coming.” Lauren said, emphasizing Max’s name so that Leah would hear and come to see him. It worked.
“Yeah, he needed a ride so I brought him with me.” Tyler explained as Leah walked into the room.
“Hey Leah.” Max said shyly as he stepped around Tyler and walked into the room.
“Hi Max.” Leah replied nervously. Something about him made her freeze up and forget how to think straight.
“You look nice.” He told her awkwardly.
“Thanks. You look nice too.” Leah said back, not sure what else to say.
“Aren’t they cute?” Lauren whispered to Tyler so they couldn’t hear.
“Adorable.” TK said, rolling his eyes. Max seemed pathetic, not knowing what to say. He was never like that.
“Be nice.” Lauren warned him. Tyler just chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Whatever you say, babe.”
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Chapter Ten;
Day Three ;
It was a little after nine when Emily awoke the next morning. She couldn’t help but smile when she looked at Kris who was laying right next to her, still asleep. She ran her fingers gently over the side of his face. It was a little scratchy from not shaving, but it felt good. She wanted to wake him up and give him a kiss, but today she couldn’t. Today he had to just be her best friend again.
“Good morning.” Kris said drowsily once he woke up and saw Emily was already awake.
“Hey sleepy head.” She said with a grin. He smiled at her.
“I don’t want to get up.” He said, knowing they would have to soon.
“I know, neither do I.” Emily agreed, “But today’s a brand new day and we need to get out of bed and go conquer it.”
“Corny much?” He chuckled and she just smiled.
“Maybe, but it’s inspiration for us to get up. Because you and I both know we’d rather stay here all day.”
“Very true.” Kris smiled and put his hand on her side seductively.
“Hey, none of that now!” She said as if she were kidding, but was totally serious. No matter how much she liked him, she made a promise to herself that their relationship would have to wait.
“Sorry, I forgot.” Kris said with a smirk on his face.
“Yeah, I bet.” Emily smirked back and threw the covers off of herself, getting up out of the bed. “Do you want something to eat?” She asked him as she threw on an oversized hoodie before walking out of her room. It was a bit chilly inside.
“Depends, what do ya got?” He replied, still laying on the bed.
“Come see for yourself, lazy.” Emily said back with a smile.
“Fine, fine.” He said and finally got up and followed her out to the kitchen.
“I have cereal, and… cereal…” Emily said as she looked through the cupboards and refrigerator for something to have for breakfast. “Wow. I really need to go grocery shopping.” She said, not finding anything else to choose from.
“Cereal it is, then.” Kris chuckled.
“Captain Crunch or Corn Pops?” Emily asked, holding up the two boxes.
“Captain Crunch for sure.” He said.
“Good choice.” She laughed and handed him the box and grabbed two bowls and spoons. Kris got out the milk and they set everything on the table.
As the two of them ate their breakfast, Emily remembered something.
“Oh crap. What did I do with my cell phone?” She asked, trying to remember where she put it.
“I don’t know. When did you last have it?” Kris replied, not sure as to where it was either.
“I think when I first noticed you were here.” She said and got up out of her seat to go look.
“Did you drop it?” Kris asked, still sitting at the table.
“Maybe.” Emily said. She was looking around the couches. “Here’s yours.” She said as she tossed him his phone that he left on the couch.
“Thanks. Want me to call yours?” He asked her as he caught it.
“Yes please.” She said.
“Whoa, seven missed calls.” He thought out loud, noticing the alert on his screen.
“Worry about that later. Call mine now.” Emily ordered him, impatiently.
“Okay, okay.” Kris gave in with a smirk. Emily’s phone started ringing and she looked where she heard the sound coming from.
“Here it is.” She said, picking it up from off of the ground. “How did it get under the couch?”
“I have no idea.”
The two of them were both looking through their phones now, checking what they missed. Emily’s two missed calls didn’t quite compare to Kris’s seven, but her fourteen text messages triumphed over his three.
“And all fourteen were from Ashley?” Kris asked, slightly shocked at what she must have had to say.
“Yepp. But that’s not a big deal. They all either say ‘hey!’ in all caps or are asking me where the hell I am and why I’m not answering her.” Emily shrugged.
“And that’s not a big deal?” He asked her.
“Oh, she does that nearly every time I don’t answer her within ten minutes.”
“Oh I see.” Kris said with an amused expression on his face.
“Yeah, so who were yours from?” She asked him.
“Two from Max saying, ‘dude answer me’ and one from Bouch telling me that everything will be alright.” He told her, mocking Max’s voice when he said his part.
“Why’d Bouch have to tell you that?” Emily asked with a quizzical look on her face.
“Well, I kind of, sort of freaked when I found out about you and Geno.” He told her, trying to not make a big deal about it.
“You freaked? What’d you do?” She asked concernedly.
“Well, it’s really not a big deal. I just got mad and broke my hockey stick and left.” He said simply. Emily just looked at him, her eyebrows raised. “But, I did it because I love you.” He added with a cheesy smile that made her laugh.
“How romantic.” She said sarcastically. “So who are you’re calls from?”
“One from Bouch and the rest from Max.” He said, looking down the list.
“Hmm, I got one from Max too.” Emily said. She suddenly looked up from her phone at Kris with a nervous look on her face, “Max called you and me and we both didn’t answer him. What if he puts two and two together and figures out we’re together? Then, being Max, he’ll assume we slept together and he’ll be right and he’ll tell everyone and they’ll all think I’m awful and I…”
“Calm down,” Kris interrupted her, “There’s a huge problem with your theory that you’ve overlooked.”
“And what would that be?”
“It’s Max. He can’t count to two, let alone put it together.” Kris joked with a smirk on his face. Emily just laughed.
“True.” She said and forgot about her worries, “So what are our stories going to be?”
“Stories?”
“Yeah, we gotta make up stories of what we did yesterday incase anyone suspects something. That way we have details and things to say if someone questions us.” Emily explained, “Here’s mine. Yesterday I didn’t wake up until a quarter till three. When I did awake, I was feeling slightly hung over and decided to take a shower. I got in the shower at 2:58, cleansed myself for fifty two minutes and got out at about 3:50. I put on my robe and sat and filed and fixed up my nails for twenty eight minutes. I started to paint them a shimmery dark blue, but I thought it was a little too much after finishing the first coat on my left hand, and I removed the polish immediately. I was startled when I heard Lauren call my name around 4:24 and I didn’t reply right away. I got up, went and greeted her and when she left I went to blow dry my hair. That’s when I lost track of time. Once my hair was dry I watched Hot Rod until I fell back asleep on the couch. I woke up hours later, feeling sluggish and bored so I decided to call it a night and went to sleep in my room. It wasn’t until this morning I realized my phone was off the whole time, otherwise I would have been sure to hear it ringing. And that’s that.”
“You’re insane.” Kris laughed.
“Insane, no. Prepared, 100 percent.” She said confidently, “Now let’s hear yours.”
“Okay, let’s see.” Kris thought for a moment, “After I left practice I went for a drive to sort things out by myself. I wandered aimlessly through the city for a few hours when I decided to stop at the mall. I walked around there for a little while, but I left my phone in my bag that was in my car. So I didn’t have it with me to answer it. After a few hours I got back in my car and drove to my Uncle’s house to see him. He…”
“Wait, wait.” Emily stopped him mid-sentence.
“What?”
“Does your uncle have a name? Details are important.” She said seriously. Kris laughed quietly to himself.
“Yeah, sure. Uncle Bob.” He said.
“Bob? Is that the best you can think of?” She asked him as if he were kidding her.
“What’s wrong with Bob?” He asked back, not seeing the problem.
“Like I said, details are important! Bob is like the most common fake name in the world. Think of something else. Like François.”
“Okay then, I drove to my Uncle François’s house.” Kris continued, amused by Emily’s dedication to the role. He decided to have a little fun with the rest of his story, “I hadn’t seen dear Uncle François, or Big Frank as I like to call him, in about 3 and a half years. He recently moved to Pittsburgh after suffering a devastating loss back in Montreal, no longer wanting to live in the home his feline companion, Monsieur Sprinkles, had only just passed away in. The memories in that home were too much for his big heart and three hundred and fifty pound body to handle. When I arrived at his home he was baking what at first smell seemed to be pumpkin pie, but as I later found out was apple strudel. He insisted on me staying until it was finished to try some. I gave in to his pleas and told him I would stay, making him smile for the first time since Monsieur left this earth. Seeing how happy I made him made me forget my worries and distress about you, so I opted to stay the night at his house in his newly remodeled guest bedroom. And that’s that.”
He smiled at Emily who just stared back at him with no visible emotion on her face. It was hard for him to tell what she was thinking.
“Was the strudel good?” She asked, her voice sounding serious. Kris smiled.
“It was delicious.”
“Okay, that will work. Our friends aren’t that bright. They’ll believe it.” She said with a smirk, “Good details, by the way.”
“Thank you very much.” He chuckled.
“Now remember, stick to the story. Any little detail changes can throw off the whole thing.” Emily told him. She really didn’t want anyone to know about they’re special night. Hurting Geno was the last thing she wanted to do. And if he found out, it would crush him.
Kris was feeling a little overwhelmed with all of this making up stories and keeping secrets stuff. But if that’s what would make Emily happy and so they could be together, he’d do it.
“I feel like I’ve committed a crime.” Kris told her.
“That’s because you have.”
“Oh I have I?” He asked, entertained by all the craziness.
“Yes,” She told him, smiling slightly, “You broke into my apartment and stole my heart.”
“Well, I had to in order to avenge the theft of my heart long, long ago by a beautiful mistress of the art of heart stealing.”
“Tell it to the judge.” She said and stood up, grabbing their empty cereal bowls and taking them over to the sink.
“I should probably get going.” Kris said as he stood up himself, though he didn’t want to.
“Yeah,” Emily said as she looked at the time. It was almost ten. She was planning on calling Ashley and inviting her over so they could hang out before and go to the game together, but she still had to get ready. “Thanks again for coming over, though. I’m glad you were the one I spent my one special night with.”
“No problem,” He said with a smile on his face. “What are best friends/secret valentines for?”
Kris wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She hugged him back, not wanting to let go. As they parted, Kris kissed her softly on the cheek.
“I’ll see you at the game.” He said, grabbing his jacket.
“Okay and good luck.” She replied and he smiled as he opened the door. “Oh, and stick to the story.” She added with a wink.
“Will do.” He chuckled and left.
“Morning!” Lauren said to her friend, noticing Leah had just woken up. She then replied to the person on the other line of her cell phone, “Yeah, she’s finally awake.”
“Who are you talking to?” Leah asked her.
“Tyler.” Lauren smiled in response. She should’ve known.
“Oh. How long have you been up?” She asked,
“Hold on a second,” Lauren said to TK and looked at Leah, “About an hour.”
Leah just rubbed her eyes, adjusting them to the light.
“Okay, I’ll see you then. Love you, too. Bye.” Lauren ended her call and smiled.
“So what’s going on?” Leah asked her, wondering what the plans were for the morning.
“Well, Tyler said he’d pick us up around one so we could hang with him and the guys before the game.” She replied, still smiling.
“Okay, cool.” Leah smiled back. The thought of seeing Max put her in a good mood. “Want me to make pancakes?”
“Oh my god, yes!” Lauren exclaimed. Ever since they were in elementary school, Leah always made the absolute best pancakes in the world. She made them nearly every time they had sleepovers at her house, but hadn’t made any recently.
“Okay.” Leah laughed at her enthusiastic response. She got up and walked over to her kitchen with Lauren close behind.
Not even fifteen minutes later, the two girls were chowing down on their pancakes.
“These are heavenly!” Lauren gushed as she took another bite.
“I’m glad you think so.” Leah said with a laugh.
“Oh my god, I had the weirdest dream last night!” Lauren said out of nowhere. Pancakes make her hyper.
“What was it about?” Leah asked, curious as to what her mind could possibly think up.
“Well, it started out just me in a castle. Then I had to fight, like, a thousand wizards and the only way to beat them was to punch them as hard as I could in their faces. It was pretty crazy.” Lauren said dramatically.
“You’re crazy.” Leah laughed.
“Thanks.” Lauren said sarcastically and laughed, “What did you dream about?”
“Well I can’t remember it all,” She started to say with an involuntary smile as she thought about it, “But we were at the game after it was over and we went back into the locker room but no one was there. Just me and you. Then you went to look for everyone and left me by myself. So I just wandered around for a while until Max pretty much appeared out of nowhere. Then it was just us two.”
“So it was a good dream.” Lauren said with a smile.
“Yes, very.” Leah laughed.
“Only 49 hours until I see you again.” Sidney said with a smile on his face. He was on the phone with Ashlen and had been for the past hour and a half. Hearing her voice was the next best thing to actually being with her, which was going to happen on Tuesday. Just a little over two days to wait.
“I know, I’m excited!” Ashlen replied enthusiastically.
“So, you gonna watch me play today?” Sidney asked, speaking of the game against the Rangers at three.
“Uh, yeah!” Ash said as if it were a given. “Kick some New York ass for me.”
“Will do. Jordy said he was planning something so keep an eye out for his mischievousness.” Sid warned her, not sure of what exactly he had up his sleeve.
“I’ll be watching.” She laughed in response. “Gosh I can’t wait to meet the rest of your friends. They sound like fun.”
“Oh they are,” Sidney chuckled. He had told Ashlen some of the many stories of memorable times him and the guys and girls had together. She had already met Max and Geno, but she didn’t really get any time to really meet or talk to anyone else. “Em, Ashley, Laur and Leah will love you. I just know you’ll get along with them really well.”
“I hope so.” She said. She really wanted to make friends with Sidney’s friends. Especially since she wouldn’t know anyone else there.
“Don’t worry, it’s all gonna work out perfectly.” Sidney reassured her. “I seriously can’t wait for you to come out here.”
“I know, me either. These next 48 and a half hours are gonna be torture!” She groaned.
“Tell me about it. I just hope I can focus on the hockey today.”
“You better! Win this one for me.” Ashlen told him. She didn’t want Sidney to be off his game because of her. He had to carry his team to another cup.
“I’ll do what I can.” Sid chuckled. “But hey, I gotta go. I’ll call you after the game?”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you then.” She said, “Good luck!”
It was a little after nine when Emily awoke the next morning. She couldn’t help but smile when she looked at Kris who was laying right next to her, still asleep. She ran her fingers gently over the side of his face. It was a little scratchy from not shaving, but it felt good. She wanted to wake him up and give him a kiss, but today she couldn’t. Today he had to just be her best friend again.
“Good morning.” Kris said drowsily once he woke up and saw Emily was already awake.
“Hey sleepy head.” She said with a grin. He smiled at her.
“I don’t want to get up.” He said, knowing they would have to soon.
“I know, neither do I.” Emily agreed, “But today’s a brand new day and we need to get out of bed and go conquer it.”
“Corny much?” He chuckled and she just smiled.
“Maybe, but it’s inspiration for us to get up. Because you and I both know we’d rather stay here all day.”
“Very true.” Kris smiled and put his hand on her side seductively.
“Hey, none of that now!” She said as if she were kidding, but was totally serious. No matter how much she liked him, she made a promise to herself that their relationship would have to wait.
“Sorry, I forgot.” Kris said with a smirk on his face.
“Yeah, I bet.” Emily smirked back and threw the covers off of herself, getting up out of the bed. “Do you want something to eat?” She asked him as she threw on an oversized hoodie before walking out of her room. It was a bit chilly inside.
“Depends, what do ya got?” He replied, still laying on the bed.
“Come see for yourself, lazy.” Emily said back with a smile.
“Fine, fine.” He said and finally got up and followed her out to the kitchen.
“I have cereal, and… cereal…” Emily said as she looked through the cupboards and refrigerator for something to have for breakfast. “Wow. I really need to go grocery shopping.” She said, not finding anything else to choose from.
“Cereal it is, then.” Kris chuckled.
“Captain Crunch or Corn Pops?” Emily asked, holding up the two boxes.
“Captain Crunch for sure.” He said.
“Good choice.” She laughed and handed him the box and grabbed two bowls and spoons. Kris got out the milk and they set everything on the table.
As the two of them ate their breakfast, Emily remembered something.
“Oh crap. What did I do with my cell phone?” She asked, trying to remember where she put it.
“I don’t know. When did you last have it?” Kris replied, not sure as to where it was either.
“I think when I first noticed you were here.” She said and got up out of her seat to go look.
“Did you drop it?” Kris asked, still sitting at the table.
“Maybe.” Emily said. She was looking around the couches. “Here’s yours.” She said as she tossed him his phone that he left on the couch.
“Thanks. Want me to call yours?” He asked her as he caught it.
“Yes please.” She said.
“Whoa, seven missed calls.” He thought out loud, noticing the alert on his screen.
“Worry about that later. Call mine now.” Emily ordered him, impatiently.
“Okay, okay.” Kris gave in with a smirk. Emily’s phone started ringing and she looked where she heard the sound coming from.
“Here it is.” She said, picking it up from off of the ground. “How did it get under the couch?”
“I have no idea.”
The two of them were both looking through their phones now, checking what they missed. Emily’s two missed calls didn’t quite compare to Kris’s seven, but her fourteen text messages triumphed over his three.
“And all fourteen were from Ashley?” Kris asked, slightly shocked at what she must have had to say.
“Yepp. But that’s not a big deal. They all either say ‘hey!’ in all caps or are asking me where the hell I am and why I’m not answering her.” Emily shrugged.
“And that’s not a big deal?” He asked her.
“Oh, she does that nearly every time I don’t answer her within ten minutes.”
“Oh I see.” Kris said with an amused expression on his face.
“Yeah, so who were yours from?” She asked him.
“Two from Max saying, ‘dude answer me’ and one from Bouch telling me that everything will be alright.” He told her, mocking Max’s voice when he said his part.
“Why’d Bouch have to tell you that?” Emily asked with a quizzical look on her face.
“Well, I kind of, sort of freaked when I found out about you and Geno.” He told her, trying to not make a big deal about it.
“You freaked? What’d you do?” She asked concernedly.
“Well, it’s really not a big deal. I just got mad and broke my hockey stick and left.” He said simply. Emily just looked at him, her eyebrows raised. “But, I did it because I love you.” He added with a cheesy smile that made her laugh.
“How romantic.” She said sarcastically. “So who are you’re calls from?”
“One from Bouch and the rest from Max.” He said, looking down the list.
“Hmm, I got one from Max too.” Emily said. She suddenly looked up from her phone at Kris with a nervous look on her face, “Max called you and me and we both didn’t answer him. What if he puts two and two together and figures out we’re together? Then, being Max, he’ll assume we slept together and he’ll be right and he’ll tell everyone and they’ll all think I’m awful and I…”
“Calm down,” Kris interrupted her, “There’s a huge problem with your theory that you’ve overlooked.”
“And what would that be?”
“It’s Max. He can’t count to two, let alone put it together.” Kris joked with a smirk on his face. Emily just laughed.
“True.” She said and forgot about her worries, “So what are our stories going to be?”
“Stories?”
“Yeah, we gotta make up stories of what we did yesterday incase anyone suspects something. That way we have details and things to say if someone questions us.” Emily explained, “Here’s mine. Yesterday I didn’t wake up until a quarter till three. When I did awake, I was feeling slightly hung over and decided to take a shower. I got in the shower at 2:58, cleansed myself for fifty two minutes and got out at about 3:50. I put on my robe and sat and filed and fixed up my nails for twenty eight minutes. I started to paint them a shimmery dark blue, but I thought it was a little too much after finishing the first coat on my left hand, and I removed the polish immediately. I was startled when I heard Lauren call my name around 4:24 and I didn’t reply right away. I got up, went and greeted her and when she left I went to blow dry my hair. That’s when I lost track of time. Once my hair was dry I watched Hot Rod until I fell back asleep on the couch. I woke up hours later, feeling sluggish and bored so I decided to call it a night and went to sleep in my room. It wasn’t until this morning I realized my phone was off the whole time, otherwise I would have been sure to hear it ringing. And that’s that.”
“You’re insane.” Kris laughed.
“Insane, no. Prepared, 100 percent.” She said confidently, “Now let’s hear yours.”
“Okay, let’s see.” Kris thought for a moment, “After I left practice I went for a drive to sort things out by myself. I wandered aimlessly through the city for a few hours when I decided to stop at the mall. I walked around there for a little while, but I left my phone in my bag that was in my car. So I didn’t have it with me to answer it. After a few hours I got back in my car and drove to my Uncle’s house to see him. He…”
“Wait, wait.” Emily stopped him mid-sentence.
“What?”
“Does your uncle have a name? Details are important.” She said seriously. Kris laughed quietly to himself.
“Yeah, sure. Uncle Bob.” He said.
“Bob? Is that the best you can think of?” She asked him as if he were kidding her.
“What’s wrong with Bob?” He asked back, not seeing the problem.
“Like I said, details are important! Bob is like the most common fake name in the world. Think of something else. Like François.”
“Okay then, I drove to my Uncle François’s house.” Kris continued, amused by Emily’s dedication to the role. He decided to have a little fun with the rest of his story, “I hadn’t seen dear Uncle François, or Big Frank as I like to call him, in about 3 and a half years. He recently moved to Pittsburgh after suffering a devastating loss back in Montreal, no longer wanting to live in the home his feline companion, Monsieur Sprinkles, had only just passed away in. The memories in that home were too much for his big heart and three hundred and fifty pound body to handle. When I arrived at his home he was baking what at first smell seemed to be pumpkin pie, but as I later found out was apple strudel. He insisted on me staying until it was finished to try some. I gave in to his pleas and told him I would stay, making him smile for the first time since Monsieur left this earth. Seeing how happy I made him made me forget my worries and distress about you, so I opted to stay the night at his house in his newly remodeled guest bedroom. And that’s that.”
He smiled at Emily who just stared back at him with no visible emotion on her face. It was hard for him to tell what she was thinking.
“Was the strudel good?” She asked, her voice sounding serious. Kris smiled.
“It was delicious.”
“Okay, that will work. Our friends aren’t that bright. They’ll believe it.” She said with a smirk, “Good details, by the way.”
“Thank you very much.” He chuckled.
“Now remember, stick to the story. Any little detail changes can throw off the whole thing.” Emily told him. She really didn’t want anyone to know about they’re special night. Hurting Geno was the last thing she wanted to do. And if he found out, it would crush him.
Kris was feeling a little overwhelmed with all of this making up stories and keeping secrets stuff. But if that’s what would make Emily happy and so they could be together, he’d do it.
“I feel like I’ve committed a crime.” Kris told her.
“That’s because you have.”
“Oh I have I?” He asked, entertained by all the craziness.
“Yes,” She told him, smiling slightly, “You broke into my apartment and stole my heart.”
“Well, I had to in order to avenge the theft of my heart long, long ago by a beautiful mistress of the art of heart stealing.”
“Tell it to the judge.” She said and stood up, grabbing their empty cereal bowls and taking them over to the sink.
“I should probably get going.” Kris said as he stood up himself, though he didn’t want to.
“Yeah,” Emily said as she looked at the time. It was almost ten. She was planning on calling Ashley and inviting her over so they could hang out before and go to the game together, but she still had to get ready. “Thanks again for coming over, though. I’m glad you were the one I spent my one special night with.”
“No problem,” He said with a smile on his face. “What are best friends/secret valentines for?”
Kris wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She hugged him back, not wanting to let go. As they parted, Kris kissed her softly on the cheek.
“I’ll see you at the game.” He said, grabbing his jacket.
“Okay and good luck.” She replied and he smiled as he opened the door. “Oh, and stick to the story.” She added with a wink.
“Will do.” He chuckled and left.
“Morning!” Lauren said to her friend, noticing Leah had just woken up. She then replied to the person on the other line of her cell phone, “Yeah, she’s finally awake.”
“Who are you talking to?” Leah asked her.
“Tyler.” Lauren smiled in response. She should’ve known.
“Oh. How long have you been up?” She asked,
“Hold on a second,” Lauren said to TK and looked at Leah, “About an hour.”
Leah just rubbed her eyes, adjusting them to the light.
“Okay, I’ll see you then. Love you, too. Bye.” Lauren ended her call and smiled.
“So what’s going on?” Leah asked her, wondering what the plans were for the morning.
“Well, Tyler said he’d pick us up around one so we could hang with him and the guys before the game.” She replied, still smiling.
“Okay, cool.” Leah smiled back. The thought of seeing Max put her in a good mood. “Want me to make pancakes?”
“Oh my god, yes!” Lauren exclaimed. Ever since they were in elementary school, Leah always made the absolute best pancakes in the world. She made them nearly every time they had sleepovers at her house, but hadn’t made any recently.
“Okay.” Leah laughed at her enthusiastic response. She got up and walked over to her kitchen with Lauren close behind.
Not even fifteen minutes later, the two girls were chowing down on their pancakes.
“These are heavenly!” Lauren gushed as she took another bite.
“I’m glad you think so.” Leah said with a laugh.
“Oh my god, I had the weirdest dream last night!” Lauren said out of nowhere. Pancakes make her hyper.
“What was it about?” Leah asked, curious as to what her mind could possibly think up.
“Well, it started out just me in a castle. Then I had to fight, like, a thousand wizards and the only way to beat them was to punch them as hard as I could in their faces. It was pretty crazy.” Lauren said dramatically.
“You’re crazy.” Leah laughed.
“Thanks.” Lauren said sarcastically and laughed, “What did you dream about?”
“Well I can’t remember it all,” She started to say with an involuntary smile as she thought about it, “But we were at the game after it was over and we went back into the locker room but no one was there. Just me and you. Then you went to look for everyone and left me by myself. So I just wandered around for a while until Max pretty much appeared out of nowhere. Then it was just us two.”
“So it was a good dream.” Lauren said with a smile.
“Yes, very.” Leah laughed.
“Only 49 hours until I see you again.” Sidney said with a smile on his face. He was on the phone with Ashlen and had been for the past hour and a half. Hearing her voice was the next best thing to actually being with her, which was going to happen on Tuesday. Just a little over two days to wait.
“I know, I’m excited!” Ashlen replied enthusiastically.
“So, you gonna watch me play today?” Sidney asked, speaking of the game against the Rangers at three.
“Uh, yeah!” Ash said as if it were a given. “Kick some New York ass for me.”
“Will do. Jordy said he was planning something so keep an eye out for his mischievousness.” Sid warned her, not sure of what exactly he had up his sleeve.
“I’ll be watching.” She laughed in response. “Gosh I can’t wait to meet the rest of your friends. They sound like fun.”
“Oh they are,” Sidney chuckled. He had told Ashlen some of the many stories of memorable times him and the guys and girls had together. She had already met Max and Geno, but she didn’t really get any time to really meet or talk to anyone else. “Em, Ashley, Laur and Leah will love you. I just know you’ll get along with them really well.”
“I hope so.” She said. She really wanted to make friends with Sidney’s friends. Especially since she wouldn’t know anyone else there.
“Don’t worry, it’s all gonna work out perfectly.” Sidney reassured her. “I seriously can’t wait for you to come out here.”
“I know, me either. These next 48 and a half hours are gonna be torture!” She groaned.
“Tell me about it. I just hope I can focus on the hockey today.”
“You better! Win this one for me.” Ashlen told him. She didn’t want Sidney to be off his game because of her. He had to carry his team to another cup.
“I’ll do what I can.” Sid chuckled. “But hey, I gotta go. I’ll call you after the game?”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you then.” She said, “Good luck!”
Monday, July 20, 2009
Chapter Nine;
“So, when did you first realize that you were in love with me?” Emily asked curiously. Her and Kris had changed into their pajamas. Hers being a tank and aerie knit shorts while Kris, not having brought anything to wear for bed, was in his boxers. They were just laying on her bed, staring into each other’s eyes, talking about anything and everything on their minds. Nothing was off limits.
“Well, ever since I met you I had a crush on you. As we became better friends my feelings for you grew stronger.” He started, looking into her eyes as he played with a lock of her hair that was resting on her shoulder, “I remember it was a Thursday. The day you, Ashley, and Lauren insisted on having everyone get together to watch movies after practice. All us guys eventually gave in, even though we figured you’d pick some chick flick to watch. We were right.”
“The Notebook.” Emily whispered, remembering the day.
“Uh-huh. I’d never seen it before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.” Kris paused and then continued his story, “I remember looking at you, seeing how moved you were by it and thinking, She’s the one. I had been falling all along, but that’s when I first really knew I was in love with you.”
“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” Emily said honestly.
“And it’s true.” He told her as his fingers brushed her cheek softly.
“One question.” She said, her voice quiet. Kris raised an eyebrow, telling her to ask whatever she had on her mind. So she did, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I don’t know.” Kris smiled, “I guess I didn’t want to mess things up between us. I didn’t think you’d feel the same way.”
“Well you’re wrong there.” Emily smiled back. “I guess I’m glad you waited, though. Things worked out pretty well, except for the timing with Geno thing.”
“Yeah,” Kris agreed, “I have a question for you now.”
“Go on..” She instructed him.
“When are you going to break up with him?”
Emily thought for a second. She really didn’t know the answer to that question. “I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t want to hurt him anymore than I have to. He’s one of my best friends, too and I don’t wanna mess that up.”
“I understand.” He said genuinely, “All I want is to be with you and for you to be happy. So you can do what you know is best.”
“Thanks for understanding. And I want to be with you too. More than anything.”
“I’m glad.” Kris said, ending that conversation.
“You know what we need?” Emily asked, an idea forming in her head.
“What?” Kris was curious as to what she was thinking.
“A song. You know, to be our song. And every time we hear it we’ll think of each other and it will be amazing.” Emily explained with a smile on her face.
“And what song would that be?” Kris asked. He liked her idea.
“Well, it should be a song that fits with us. Like it was written with us in mind.” She told him and grabbed her iPod touch off of her bedside table. She slid her finger across the screen and went to her list of songs, holding it so they both could see.
They each looked at the song titles as she scrolled down. Nothing seemed to fit, until they got to the S’s.
“Oh my gosh, this one’s perfect.” Emily announced, pressing the screen were it said Secret Valentine (acoustic). The song started playing and We The King’s voices sang out the iPod’s invisible speakers.
Soft kiss and wine
What a pretty friend of mine
We're finally intertwined
Nervous and shy for the moment we will come alive
Tonight
Secret valentine
We'll write a song
That turns out the lights
When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
Lay down, be still
Don't worry talk they will
I'll be loving you until
Morning's first light
Breaks tomorrow
I'll take care of you tonight
We'll write a song
That turns out the lights
When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
When guilt fills your head
Brush off rise up from the dead
This is the moment that we will come alive
Brace yourself for love
Sweet love, secret love
We'll write a song that turns out the lights
When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
Nothing at all
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
Nothing at all
“I like it.” Kris smiled. The lyrics really fit them. It was perfect.
“Me too.” Emily agreed. She put the song on repeat and set the music player down on her side table.
“I’ll think of us every time I hear it.” Kris promised.
“And it will be amazing.” Emily added with a smile.
The two of them laid in silence, listening to the song for a few minutes. It was getting late, but neither of them were tired.
“It’s 11:11. Make a wish.” Emily said, noticing the time on the clock.
“Okay.” Kris closed his eyes and made his wish in his head. Emily did the same. When the minute was up, they both opened their eyes to see each other looking right back at them.
“What’d you wish for?” He asked her.
“I can’t tell you, or else it won’t come true.” She told him with a smirk.
“Oh, I see.” He said with a chuckle. She looked beautiful just laying there looking at him. There was no one he’d rather be with.
“So I was thinking about what you said earlier…” Emily said, looking away from his face.
“What part?” He asked, gently taking her hand in his, tracing her fingers with his own.
“How you said it was just one night and no one had to know.” She said, her eyes fixed on his now.
“Oh?” He said wondering what she was about to say.
“Yeah, and you’re right.” She told him, “It’s just one night where I can do whatever I want and not care. I never do that. I figure if I take this one night and just enjoy it as much as I can with you, it can be my one special night that no one has to know happened. Then I swear I’ll never ever cheat ever again. I just really, really want you right now. You’re my secret valentine.”
“That sounds like a good plan to me.” Kris said with a smile plastered on his face. “Does this mean you wanna…?”
“Uh-huh.” She smiled, knowing what he was going to say. She pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.
“Okay.” Kris said with a smile once they separated. And with that being said, they continued where they left off earlier before Lauren interrupted.
“Well, ever since I met you I had a crush on you. As we became better friends my feelings for you grew stronger.” He started, looking into her eyes as he played with a lock of her hair that was resting on her shoulder, “I remember it was a Thursday. The day you, Ashley, and Lauren insisted on having everyone get together to watch movies after practice. All us guys eventually gave in, even though we figured you’d pick some chick flick to watch. We were right.”
“The Notebook.” Emily whispered, remembering the day.
“Uh-huh. I’d never seen it before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.” Kris paused and then continued his story, “I remember looking at you, seeing how moved you were by it and thinking, She’s the one. I had been falling all along, but that’s when I first really knew I was in love with you.”
“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” Emily said honestly.
“And it’s true.” He told her as his fingers brushed her cheek softly.
“One question.” She said, her voice quiet. Kris raised an eyebrow, telling her to ask whatever she had on her mind. So she did, “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I don’t know.” Kris smiled, “I guess I didn’t want to mess things up between us. I didn’t think you’d feel the same way.”
“Well you’re wrong there.” Emily smiled back. “I guess I’m glad you waited, though. Things worked out pretty well, except for the timing with Geno thing.”
“Yeah,” Kris agreed, “I have a question for you now.”
“Go on..” She instructed him.
“When are you going to break up with him?”
Emily thought for a second. She really didn’t know the answer to that question. “I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t want to hurt him anymore than I have to. He’s one of my best friends, too and I don’t wanna mess that up.”
“I understand.” He said genuinely, “All I want is to be with you and for you to be happy. So you can do what you know is best.”
“Thanks for understanding. And I want to be with you too. More than anything.”
“I’m glad.” Kris said, ending that conversation.
“You know what we need?” Emily asked, an idea forming in her head.
“What?” Kris was curious as to what she was thinking.
“A song. You know, to be our song. And every time we hear it we’ll think of each other and it will be amazing.” Emily explained with a smile on her face.
“And what song would that be?” Kris asked. He liked her idea.
“Well, it should be a song that fits with us. Like it was written with us in mind.” She told him and grabbed her iPod touch off of her bedside table. She slid her finger across the screen and went to her list of songs, holding it so they both could see.
They each looked at the song titles as she scrolled down. Nothing seemed to fit, until they got to the S’s.
“Oh my gosh, this one’s perfect.” Emily announced, pressing the screen were it said Secret Valentine (acoustic). The song started playing and We The King’s voices sang out the iPod’s invisible speakers.
Soft kiss and wine
What a pretty friend of mine
We're finally intertwined
Nervous and shy for the moment we will come alive
Tonight
Secret valentine
We'll write a song
That turns out the lights
When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
Lay down, be still
Don't worry talk they will
I'll be loving you until
Morning's first light
Breaks tomorrow
I'll take care of you tonight
We'll write a song
That turns out the lights
When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
When guilt fills your head
Brush off rise up from the dead
This is the moment that we will come alive
Brace yourself for love
Sweet love, secret love
We'll write a song that turns out the lights
When both boy and girl start suddenly shaking inside
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
Nothing at all
Don't waste your time
Speed up your breathing
Just close your eyes
We'll hope it's not for nothing at all
Nothing at all
“I like it.” Kris smiled. The lyrics really fit them. It was perfect.
“Me too.” Emily agreed. She put the song on repeat and set the music player down on her side table.
“I’ll think of us every time I hear it.” Kris promised.
“And it will be amazing.” Emily added with a smile.
The two of them laid in silence, listening to the song for a few minutes. It was getting late, but neither of them were tired.
“It’s 11:11. Make a wish.” Emily said, noticing the time on the clock.
“Okay.” Kris closed his eyes and made his wish in his head. Emily did the same. When the minute was up, they both opened their eyes to see each other looking right back at them.
“What’d you wish for?” He asked her.
“I can’t tell you, or else it won’t come true.” She told him with a smirk.
“Oh, I see.” He said with a chuckle. She looked beautiful just laying there looking at him. There was no one he’d rather be with.
“So I was thinking about what you said earlier…” Emily said, looking away from his face.
“What part?” He asked, gently taking her hand in his, tracing her fingers with his own.
“How you said it was just one night and no one had to know.” She said, her eyes fixed on his now.
“Oh?” He said wondering what she was about to say.
“Yeah, and you’re right.” She told him, “It’s just one night where I can do whatever I want and not care. I never do that. I figure if I take this one night and just enjoy it as much as I can with you, it can be my one special night that no one has to know happened. Then I swear I’ll never ever cheat ever again. I just really, really want you right now. You’re my secret valentine.”
“That sounds like a good plan to me.” Kris said with a smile plastered on his face. “Does this mean you wanna…?”
“Uh-huh.” She smiled, knowing what he was going to say. She pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.
“Okay.” Kris said with a smile once they separated. And with that being said, they continued where they left off earlier before Lauren interrupted.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Chapter Eight;
It was a little after nine now. Kris and Emily had spent the last couple of hours watching the movie Hot Rod, twice. For the first viewing they watched it in silence, besides occasional laughter. The second time, was for reciting nearly every line of the movie while it was happening. It was something the two of them had became rather good at since they did the routine every time they watched it together. It was their favorite movie.
“That movie is the definition of cool.” Emily said when it was over. Her and Kris were sitting together on the couch, covered in a soft burgundy colored blanket since it was rather cold. It was January after all.
“Of course it’s cool. It’s awesome as shit.” Kris said, quoting the movie and making Emily laugh. He loved doing that.
“Hey, do you want to see something really pretty?” Emily asked him suddenly.
“I’m already looking at the most beautiful thing in the world.” He said, looking into her eyes. She smiled at him.
“Well, thank you but seriously. Do you want to?” She asked him, excited to see it herself.
“Sure.” He said and Emily got up off of the couch and out of Kris’s arms. “I changed my mind.” He joked, not wanting to let her go.
“Too late.” She smirked and held her hand out for him to grab. “Come on.”
“Fine.” He said with a smile on his face and grabbed her hand, letting her pull him up.
“Grab your jacket and put on your shoes.” She instructed as she got her own coat off of the hook.
“Where are we going?” Kris asked curiously.
“You’ll see.” Emily told him and led him into her room. He followed her in and as she put on her chocolate Uggs, he noticed what she was planning on showing him. There was a glass sliding door that was hidden behind deep blue curtains that matched her bedspread. She pushed them aside and opened the door to her personal veranda. The air outside was cold and crisp as they stepped out on to the rather large balcony. There was a layer of fresh snow on the ground and small white flakes were starting to fall again.
“Over here,” Emily said and led him to the far left side of it and motioned to the view, “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Wow.” Kris said as he looked where she told him to. There was a good view of the city and all it’s night lights. The snow that covered everything shimmered from the light of the buildings, making the already gorgeous scene even better. Winter was a beautiful season.
“I love coming out here on nights when it snows like this. It’s peaceful.” Emily said, her eyes focused off in the distance as she leaned against the railing of the balcony.
“I bet. It’s incredible.” Kris’s eyes were fixed on her.
“Yeah, it is.” Emily agreed, still looking out. “I just wish it wasn’t so cold.” She said and shivered as the wind blew.
Kris wrapped his arm around her and held her close. “Is that any better?” He asked with a smile.
“Much.” She replied, looking at him now.
“Good.” He said. The two of them were silent as the snowflakes danced around them in the night air. They were just looking at each other, not saying anything. Just studying each other’s faces and expressions, wondering what the other was thinking.
“Would it be wrong,” Emily finally said, her voice quiet, “for me to want to kiss you again?”
“Only if it’s wrong for me to want to kiss you too.” He said as he took her face in his hand and pulled her closer. He gently placed his lips on hers, kissing her softly. It was like a scene out of a movie, as the snow began to fall a little harder.
When they parted after the few second long kiss, Emily looked down at her feet. Kris could tell she felt bad for doing it and even worse for enjoying it.
“The way I look at it,” He started to say, in attempt to make her feel better, “is that it’s just one night. No one ever has to know.”
“Okay.” Emily said, nodding her head.
“Okay.” Kris replied. He held both of her hands in his, keeping them warm.
“Do you wanna go inside?” Emily asked him.
“Yeah, good idea.” He said taking a final look at the incredible view and then following her inside. They took off their coats and shoes once they were back in Emily’s room and got ready to go to sleep sometime in the next few hours. Kris couldn’t be tired for his game tomorrow and they had to get up early.
Back at Kris’s apartment, the lights and television were still on, but Max was completely out. He had fallen asleep waiting for Kris to get back. He was sitting on the couch, his feet kicked up on the coffee table, and his mouth wide open. His snores competed with the man on the TV for who could be the loudest. Max was winning.
Leah and Lauren just finished up watching the movie Taken. They both figured that they should get some sleep so they wouldn’t be tired the next day for the game. They had on their pajamas and each had a spot to sleep on Leah’s two couches.
“Are you tired?” Lauren asked her friend as she yawned herself.
“Yeah kinda.” Leah replied in a sleepy voice. “Are you?”
“Yeah.” Lauren answered, “We should probably go to sleep now so we can wake up early tomorrow and meet up with Tyler before the game.”
“Good idea.” Leah said, hoping that she’d be able to see Max too.
“Okay, goodnight then.” Lauren laughed groggily.
“Night.” Leah said and within a matter of minutes the two of them were fast asleep.
“That movie is the definition of cool.” Emily said when it was over. Her and Kris were sitting together on the couch, covered in a soft burgundy colored blanket since it was rather cold. It was January after all.
“Of course it’s cool. It’s awesome as shit.” Kris said, quoting the movie and making Emily laugh. He loved doing that.
“Hey, do you want to see something really pretty?” Emily asked him suddenly.
“I’m already looking at the most beautiful thing in the world.” He said, looking into her eyes. She smiled at him.
“Well, thank you but seriously. Do you want to?” She asked him, excited to see it herself.
“Sure.” He said and Emily got up off of the couch and out of Kris’s arms. “I changed my mind.” He joked, not wanting to let her go.
“Too late.” She smirked and held her hand out for him to grab. “Come on.”
“Fine.” He said with a smile on his face and grabbed her hand, letting her pull him up.
“Grab your jacket and put on your shoes.” She instructed as she got her own coat off of the hook.
“Where are we going?” Kris asked curiously.
“You’ll see.” Emily told him and led him into her room. He followed her in and as she put on her chocolate Uggs, he noticed what she was planning on showing him. There was a glass sliding door that was hidden behind deep blue curtains that matched her bedspread. She pushed them aside and opened the door to her personal veranda. The air outside was cold and crisp as they stepped out on to the rather large balcony. There was a layer of fresh snow on the ground and small white flakes were starting to fall again.
“Over here,” Emily said and led him to the far left side of it and motioned to the view, “Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Wow.” Kris said as he looked where she told him to. There was a good view of the city and all it’s night lights. The snow that covered everything shimmered from the light of the buildings, making the already gorgeous scene even better. Winter was a beautiful season.
“I love coming out here on nights when it snows like this. It’s peaceful.” Emily said, her eyes focused off in the distance as she leaned against the railing of the balcony.
“I bet. It’s incredible.” Kris’s eyes were fixed on her.
“Yeah, it is.” Emily agreed, still looking out. “I just wish it wasn’t so cold.” She said and shivered as the wind blew.
Kris wrapped his arm around her and held her close. “Is that any better?” He asked with a smile.
“Much.” She replied, looking at him now.
“Good.” He said. The two of them were silent as the snowflakes danced around them in the night air. They were just looking at each other, not saying anything. Just studying each other’s faces and expressions, wondering what the other was thinking.
“Would it be wrong,” Emily finally said, her voice quiet, “for me to want to kiss you again?”
“Only if it’s wrong for me to want to kiss you too.” He said as he took her face in his hand and pulled her closer. He gently placed his lips on hers, kissing her softly. It was like a scene out of a movie, as the snow began to fall a little harder.
When they parted after the few second long kiss, Emily looked down at her feet. Kris could tell she felt bad for doing it and even worse for enjoying it.
“The way I look at it,” He started to say, in attempt to make her feel better, “is that it’s just one night. No one ever has to know.”
“Okay.” Emily said, nodding her head.
“Okay.” Kris replied. He held both of her hands in his, keeping them warm.
“Do you wanna go inside?” Emily asked him.
“Yeah, good idea.” He said taking a final look at the incredible view and then following her inside. They took off their coats and shoes once they were back in Emily’s room and got ready to go to sleep sometime in the next few hours. Kris couldn’t be tired for his game tomorrow and they had to get up early.
Back at Kris’s apartment, the lights and television were still on, but Max was completely out. He had fallen asleep waiting for Kris to get back. He was sitting on the couch, his feet kicked up on the coffee table, and his mouth wide open. His snores competed with the man on the TV for who could be the loudest. Max was winning.
Leah and Lauren just finished up watching the movie Taken. They both figured that they should get some sleep so they wouldn’t be tired the next day for the game. They had on their pajamas and each had a spot to sleep on Leah’s two couches.
“Are you tired?” Lauren asked her friend as she yawned herself.
“Yeah kinda.” Leah replied in a sleepy voice. “Are you?”
“Yeah.” Lauren answered, “We should probably go to sleep now so we can wake up early tomorrow and meet up with Tyler before the game.”
“Good idea.” Leah said, hoping that she’d be able to see Max too.
“Okay, goodnight then.” Lauren laughed groggily.
“Night.” Leah said and within a matter of minutes the two of them were fast asleep.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Chapter Seven;
It was a little after four when Lauren and Leah finally left the mall. They were on their way back to Lauren’s apartment for her to drop off the stuff she had just bought and to pick up some things to take to stay over night at Leah’s.
“Hopefully Em won’t care we stayed a little bit longer than I expected. I told her we’d be back by four.” Lauren said and glanced at the time. It was 4:11.
“It should be okay.” Leah assured her.
By the time they got to Lauren’s place it was 4:22.
“You can wait here if you want. It’ll only take me a second.” Laur told Leah as she got out of the car.
“Okay.” Leah agreed.
Lauren grabbed her three bags and hurried inside the building.
Emily’s mind was empty. She wasn’t thinking or worrying about anything. She felt at peace as Kris’s lips brushed her neck. His body was on top of hers and they were on her bed. She never would have imagined that she would be doing this with him, but here they were. Doing it.
Suddenly the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard.
“Em! I’m back!” Lauren called from the door.
“Shit!” Emily whispered. She forgot about Lauren. She couldn’t know about this. “Stay here.” She whispered to Kris as she got up off of her bed unwillingly.
“Em?!” Lauren called out again.
“Hold on!” She replied as she threw on her robe that was hanging on her bathroom door. Once her was covered she hurried and opened her door, just enough for her to squeeze out and then shut it quick.
“Hey, Laur.” Emily said, still breathing heavily.
“Hey, I just wanted to tell you I’m staying at Leah’s tonight.” Lauren told her, studying her sister’s face. “Did you just get out of the shower?”
“Uh, yeah a little bit ago. I was just about to blow-dry my hair.” She lied.
“Ha, I was gonna say. It’s kind of a mess right now.” Lauren laughed.
“Ha ha, yeah.” Emily fake laughed nervously. It was just now hitting her of what she had done. She had a hard time believing it herself.
“Well, I’m just gonna grab some stuff to take and I’ll be out.” Lauren told her and walked to her room, still in ears distance from her sister.
“Okay.” Emily nodded not moving from where she was standing. Her once empty mind was now racing with thoughts.
“Leah’s coming with us to the game tomorrow.” Lauren said from inside her bedroom.
“Okay.” Emily said, barely loud enough for Lauren to hear. She walked out of her room with a bag of her things.
“Well, see you tomorrow.” She smiled.
“Okay.” Emily said for the third time in a row. It was all she could get out. Lauren waved and grabbed her jacket off of the hook. The door shut behind her.
A tear slid down Emily’s cheek as she turned around and opened her bedroom door. Kris had put his jeans back on and was looking for his shirt. When he saw Emily’s face, he immediately felt worried.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, panicked.
“I’m awful.” She said flatly, her eyes filling with tears.
“What? No you’re not. How could you even say that?” Kris asked. It broke his heart to see her that upset.
“Because I am.” She said, breaking down. Kris came over to her and embraced her in a hug. She rested her face on his chest. “How could I do that to Geno? I feel terrible.” She cried.
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Kris said, trying to calm her down by petting her hair. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have come over.”
Emily lifted her head off of him and looked him straight in the eye. “No, I’m glad you did. I said I feel awful for doing it, but I don’t regret it. I really do love you.”
Kris smiled and wiped a tear off her face with his thumb. “And I love you. So trust me when I tell you it’ll be alright.”
“Okay, if you say so.” She said and her crying came to a stop, though she still couldn’t help but feel bad about it.
“Well, I guess I should put my shirt back on now.” Kris said with a grin on his face.
“Ha, and I should probably put some clothes on.” Emily added, also smiling though her eyes still showed that she had been crying.
“Well, if you have to.” Kris joked and Emily laughed.
Kris eventually found his shirt that ended up being under the bed, and Emily changed out of her robe and into her white Abercrombie and Fitch sweatpants and a maroon tee. She brushed out her still damp hair and clipped her side bangs back and out of her eyes.
“You know, I’m really glad I came over today.” Kris told Emily while they both sat on the edge of her bed.
“Trust me, I know.” Emily laughed as she dangled her feet above the ground. Kris smiled as he watched her amuse herself. She slowly looked up at him. “No one can know about it, though. No one.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” Kris swore.
“Okay. Neither will I.” She agreed, “I really don’t want to hurt Evgeni and I definitely don’t want to be known as a cheater or a whore or anything like that.”
“Don’t worry. You are not a whore and no one thinks you are.”
“They will if they find out.”
“No they won’t and they’re not going to find out. It’ll be our secret. No one has to know, no one has to worry about it.” Kris said, holding her hand in his.
“Okay.” Emily nodded her head. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Yeah, sure. What is it?” Kris asked, prepared to do anything she wanted.
“Do you think you could stay here with me tonight? I’m afraid if you leave I’ll do something stupid and make things worse.”
“Yeah, I can stay.” Kris told her and she smiled.
“Thanks.” She said and hugged him. She was glad at least things between him and her were good. Surprisingly, they weren’t the least bit awkward. It was just nearly perfect.
Max stared at the ceiling of Kris’s apartment. He was sprawled across the couch, boring himself to death. For whatever reason, he was still waiting for Tanger to get back with no luck. He was glad he called Lauren when he did. There was no way he would be able to wait this long to talk to Kris about it.
The clock that hung on the wall across from where Max was laying showed it was a little after five. He groaned and got up, walking over to the fridge. After searching through it with his eyes for a minute, he grabbed half of an Italian sub.
“Don’t mind if I do.” He said and took a bite. Max then took a can of Pepsi and a bag of Doritos and brought his meal over to the couch. Turning on the TV to the Flyers/Blackhawks game, he kicked back, relaxed, and waited for Kris some more.
Sidney’s phone buzzed in his hands. He quickly checked the name of who was calling, hoping for Ashlen.
“Damn.” He swore once he saw the caller was actually Jordan. He ignored his call like he did to everyone else that tried calling earlier. He didn’t want to talk to anyone else but Ashlen. “Her flight should have landed by now, right?” He asked Evgeni, who he was with in Mario Lemieux’s living room.
“Yeah I think.” Geno shrugged. He was getting slightly annoyed by Sid’s obsession with this girl. But he couldn’t blame him for feeling the way he did. He knew what it was like.
“You think she’s okay? Oh god, what if there was an accident?” Sid asked, his mind racing with horrible thoughts.
“Don’t worry. There no accident. She probably just land now.” Geno tried to convince him.
“What if she forgot about me? Do you think she met someone else on the plane?” Sid was freaking out. If Ashlen didn’t call soon, who knows what he’d do.
“She’s not going to call. She’s not going to.” Sid went on and on.
“She’ll call. Just be patient.” Evgeni told him. This wasn’t exactly how he wanted to spend his day. He’d much rather be with his new girlfriend, Emily.
“I have been patient. I’ve been waiting to talk to her again since the moment she left. I don’t know how I’m gonna stand being here when she’s there. I want us to be together. And I think…” Sidney was interrupted by his phone vibrating, “It’s her!” He shouted with excitement.
“Answer it.” Geno told him after he didn’t immediately answer. Sid nodded and took a deep breath.
“Hey, Ash.” He said into the receiver as if he were trying to impress someone with his cool guy voice.
“Sidney Patrick! I miss you a hella lot!” Ashlen’s voice shouted back at him happily.
“Ashlen I miss you like crazy!” Sid said back forgetting about his cool guy routine. Geno chuckled to himself as he listened to their conversation.
“The plane just landed like seconds ago, I’m not even off yet but I just could not wait any longer to talk to you! And everyone probably thinks I’m insane ’cause I’ve been freaking out the whole time waiting to land to call you!” She said and Sidney couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm.
“Trust me, Geno had the number of the psych ward ready to dial if I said another word about how badly I needed to hear your voice again.” He told her with a grin on his face.
“Awe, Sid that’s so sweet!” She laughed.
“What can I say, I’m crazy for you.” He replied, smiling at her adorable laugh.
“And I’m crazy for you too.” Ashlen said.
“Well since we’re both so crazy about each other, I thought of this crazy idea.” Sid said, hoping she would at least consider his plan.
“And what might that be?” She asked curiously.
“Well, I was thinking about how insanely impossible it is for us to be apart. And I talked to Mario and he said it was okay. So I thought, why don’t you come live here in Pittsburgh and you can stay here with me at Mario’s. What do ya say?”
“Okay. Oh my god, yeah! Yeah! That’d be amazing! Are you being serious?” She said excitedly. She loved Sidney’s idea. She always wanted to live in Pittsburgh and if he was serious about her moving out there with him, it was like a dream come true.
“Yeah, seriously! So you’ll do it? Come live here and we can see each other every single day?” Sidney asked. Hearing how thrilled she was made him feel even more excited about it.
“Ahh! Yes I will! Oh my god I’m so excited!” She cheered and Sidney smiled nearly as big as when he won the Stanley Cup. “But shit, I hafta get off the plane now. Can I call you back later?”
“Yeah, yeah. Call me as soon as you get a chance!” Sid told her. He could hear the flight attendant talking in the background.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later! And I freaking love your idea. It’s the best ever! Bye!” She said quickly and Sid chuckled.
“Alright, bye!”
“So what are you wearing to the game tomorrow?” Leah asked Lauren as she looked through her closet in search of something to wear herself.
“Probably the new jeans I got today and either this top, or this one.” Lauren replied, holding up two of the new shirts she had bought earlier that day. The one in her left hand was from Hollister. It was a bright blue v-neck with a pocket on the chest. In her right hand she held a dark blue short sleeve shirt from American Eagle, with the store’s name written in a lighter blue on it. “Which one do you think I should wear?”
“Hmm. Well, I would pick the one on the left cause the color really stands out. But the other one’s really cute too. So whichever you want.” Leah told her.
“Okay, I like that one too.” Lauren agreed. “What are you going to wear?”
“I think my skinny jeans from Pacsun and the grey and white striped shirt I got today at Hollister.” She said.
“Oooh that’ll be cute.” Laur said with a smile.
“Thanks.” Leah smiled back.
I need you
I need you here
I need you now
I need security somehow
I need you
Like you would not believe
You're the only thing I want
Cause you're everything I need…
Lauren’s phone sang signaling she was getting a call. “It’s Tyler.” She said without even looking at her phone. She could tell it was him from the ring tone. That was their song.
“Hey Teek.” She said, answering her phone.
“Hey Laur. What are you up to?” Tyler asked. Lauren smiled at the sound of his voice.
“I’m at Leah’s picking out what we’re wearing to your game tomorrow.” She replied, “How about you?”
“Sounds fun. I just got back from Godard’s place.” He said.
As the couple’s conversation continued, Leah sat on her bed picking at her nails. She wanted so badly to have a guy that called her and cared about her and that loved her like Lauren did. It had been a while since she had been in a real relationship with anyone and she missed it, though she wouldn’t admit it. All she could do was put on a smile and wait for her knight in shining armor to come rescue her.
“Hopefully Em won’t care we stayed a little bit longer than I expected. I told her we’d be back by four.” Lauren said and glanced at the time. It was 4:11.
“It should be okay.” Leah assured her.
By the time they got to Lauren’s place it was 4:22.
“You can wait here if you want. It’ll only take me a second.” Laur told Leah as she got out of the car.
“Okay.” Leah agreed.
Lauren grabbed her three bags and hurried inside the building.
Emily’s mind was empty. She wasn’t thinking or worrying about anything. She felt at peace as Kris’s lips brushed her neck. His body was on top of hers and they were on her bed. She never would have imagined that she would be doing this with him, but here they were. Doing it.
Suddenly the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard.
“Em! I’m back!” Lauren called from the door.
“Shit!” Emily whispered. She forgot about Lauren. She couldn’t know about this. “Stay here.” She whispered to Kris as she got up off of her bed unwillingly.
“Em?!” Lauren called out again.
“Hold on!” She replied as she threw on her robe that was hanging on her bathroom door. Once her was covered she hurried and opened her door, just enough for her to squeeze out and then shut it quick.
“Hey, Laur.” Emily said, still breathing heavily.
“Hey, I just wanted to tell you I’m staying at Leah’s tonight.” Lauren told her, studying her sister’s face. “Did you just get out of the shower?”
“Uh, yeah a little bit ago. I was just about to blow-dry my hair.” She lied.
“Ha, I was gonna say. It’s kind of a mess right now.” Lauren laughed.
“Ha ha, yeah.” Emily fake laughed nervously. It was just now hitting her of what she had done. She had a hard time believing it herself.
“Well, I’m just gonna grab some stuff to take and I’ll be out.” Lauren told her and walked to her room, still in ears distance from her sister.
“Okay.” Emily nodded not moving from where she was standing. Her once empty mind was now racing with thoughts.
“Leah’s coming with us to the game tomorrow.” Lauren said from inside her bedroom.
“Okay.” Emily said, barely loud enough for Lauren to hear. She walked out of her room with a bag of her things.
“Well, see you tomorrow.” She smiled.
“Okay.” Emily said for the third time in a row. It was all she could get out. Lauren waved and grabbed her jacket off of the hook. The door shut behind her.
A tear slid down Emily’s cheek as she turned around and opened her bedroom door. Kris had put his jeans back on and was looking for his shirt. When he saw Emily’s face, he immediately felt worried.
“What’s wrong?” He asked, panicked.
“I’m awful.” She said flatly, her eyes filling with tears.
“What? No you’re not. How could you even say that?” Kris asked. It broke his heart to see her that upset.
“Because I am.” She said, breaking down. Kris came over to her and embraced her in a hug. She rested her face on his chest. “How could I do that to Geno? I feel terrible.” She cried.
“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” Kris said, trying to calm her down by petting her hair. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have come over.”
Emily lifted her head off of him and looked him straight in the eye. “No, I’m glad you did. I said I feel awful for doing it, but I don’t regret it. I really do love you.”
Kris smiled and wiped a tear off her face with his thumb. “And I love you. So trust me when I tell you it’ll be alright.”
“Okay, if you say so.” She said and her crying came to a stop, though she still couldn’t help but feel bad about it.
“Well, I guess I should put my shirt back on now.” Kris said with a grin on his face.
“Ha, and I should probably put some clothes on.” Emily added, also smiling though her eyes still showed that she had been crying.
“Well, if you have to.” Kris joked and Emily laughed.
Kris eventually found his shirt that ended up being under the bed, and Emily changed out of her robe and into her white Abercrombie and Fitch sweatpants and a maroon tee. She brushed out her still damp hair and clipped her side bangs back and out of her eyes.
“You know, I’m really glad I came over today.” Kris told Emily while they both sat on the edge of her bed.
“Trust me, I know.” Emily laughed as she dangled her feet above the ground. Kris smiled as he watched her amuse herself. She slowly looked up at him. “No one can know about it, though. No one.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” Kris swore.
“Okay. Neither will I.” She agreed, “I really don’t want to hurt Evgeni and I definitely don’t want to be known as a cheater or a whore or anything like that.”
“Don’t worry. You are not a whore and no one thinks you are.”
“They will if they find out.”
“No they won’t and they’re not going to find out. It’ll be our secret. No one has to know, no one has to worry about it.” Kris said, holding her hand in his.
“Okay.” Emily nodded her head. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Yeah, sure. What is it?” Kris asked, prepared to do anything she wanted.
“Do you think you could stay here with me tonight? I’m afraid if you leave I’ll do something stupid and make things worse.”
“Yeah, I can stay.” Kris told her and she smiled.
“Thanks.” She said and hugged him. She was glad at least things between him and her were good. Surprisingly, they weren’t the least bit awkward. It was just nearly perfect.
Max stared at the ceiling of Kris’s apartment. He was sprawled across the couch, boring himself to death. For whatever reason, he was still waiting for Tanger to get back with no luck. He was glad he called Lauren when he did. There was no way he would be able to wait this long to talk to Kris about it.
The clock that hung on the wall across from where Max was laying showed it was a little after five. He groaned and got up, walking over to the fridge. After searching through it with his eyes for a minute, he grabbed half of an Italian sub.
“Don’t mind if I do.” He said and took a bite. Max then took a can of Pepsi and a bag of Doritos and brought his meal over to the couch. Turning on the TV to the Flyers/Blackhawks game, he kicked back, relaxed, and waited for Kris some more.
Sidney’s phone buzzed in his hands. He quickly checked the name of who was calling, hoping for Ashlen.
“Damn.” He swore once he saw the caller was actually Jordan. He ignored his call like he did to everyone else that tried calling earlier. He didn’t want to talk to anyone else but Ashlen. “Her flight should have landed by now, right?” He asked Evgeni, who he was with in Mario Lemieux’s living room.
“Yeah I think.” Geno shrugged. He was getting slightly annoyed by Sid’s obsession with this girl. But he couldn’t blame him for feeling the way he did. He knew what it was like.
“You think she’s okay? Oh god, what if there was an accident?” Sid asked, his mind racing with horrible thoughts.
“Don’t worry. There no accident. She probably just land now.” Geno tried to convince him.
“What if she forgot about me? Do you think she met someone else on the plane?” Sid was freaking out. If Ashlen didn’t call soon, who knows what he’d do.
“She’s not going to call. She’s not going to.” Sid went on and on.
“She’ll call. Just be patient.” Evgeni told him. This wasn’t exactly how he wanted to spend his day. He’d much rather be with his new girlfriend, Emily.
“I have been patient. I’ve been waiting to talk to her again since the moment she left. I don’t know how I’m gonna stand being here when she’s there. I want us to be together. And I think…” Sidney was interrupted by his phone vibrating, “It’s her!” He shouted with excitement.
“Answer it.” Geno told him after he didn’t immediately answer. Sid nodded and took a deep breath.
“Hey, Ash.” He said into the receiver as if he were trying to impress someone with his cool guy voice.
“Sidney Patrick! I miss you a hella lot!” Ashlen’s voice shouted back at him happily.
“Ashlen I miss you like crazy!” Sid said back forgetting about his cool guy routine. Geno chuckled to himself as he listened to their conversation.
“The plane just landed like seconds ago, I’m not even off yet but I just could not wait any longer to talk to you! And everyone probably thinks I’m insane ’cause I’ve been freaking out the whole time waiting to land to call you!” She said and Sidney couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm.
“Trust me, Geno had the number of the psych ward ready to dial if I said another word about how badly I needed to hear your voice again.” He told her with a grin on his face.
“Awe, Sid that’s so sweet!” She laughed.
“What can I say, I’m crazy for you.” He replied, smiling at her adorable laugh.
“And I’m crazy for you too.” Ashlen said.
“Well since we’re both so crazy about each other, I thought of this crazy idea.” Sid said, hoping she would at least consider his plan.
“And what might that be?” She asked curiously.
“Well, I was thinking about how insanely impossible it is for us to be apart. And I talked to Mario and he said it was okay. So I thought, why don’t you come live here in Pittsburgh and you can stay here with me at Mario’s. What do ya say?”
“Okay. Oh my god, yeah! Yeah! That’d be amazing! Are you being serious?” She said excitedly. She loved Sidney’s idea. She always wanted to live in Pittsburgh and if he was serious about her moving out there with him, it was like a dream come true.
“Yeah, seriously! So you’ll do it? Come live here and we can see each other every single day?” Sidney asked. Hearing how thrilled she was made him feel even more excited about it.
“Ahh! Yes I will! Oh my god I’m so excited!” She cheered and Sidney smiled nearly as big as when he won the Stanley Cup. “But shit, I hafta get off the plane now. Can I call you back later?”
“Yeah, yeah. Call me as soon as you get a chance!” Sid told her. He could hear the flight attendant talking in the background.
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later! And I freaking love your idea. It’s the best ever! Bye!” She said quickly and Sid chuckled.
“Alright, bye!”
“So what are you wearing to the game tomorrow?” Leah asked Lauren as she looked through her closet in search of something to wear herself.
“Probably the new jeans I got today and either this top, or this one.” Lauren replied, holding up two of the new shirts she had bought earlier that day. The one in her left hand was from Hollister. It was a bright blue v-neck with a pocket on the chest. In her right hand she held a dark blue short sleeve shirt from American Eagle, with the store’s name written in a lighter blue on it. “Which one do you think I should wear?”
“Hmm. Well, I would pick the one on the left cause the color really stands out. But the other one’s really cute too. So whichever you want.” Leah told her.
“Okay, I like that one too.” Lauren agreed. “What are you going to wear?”
“I think my skinny jeans from Pacsun and the grey and white striped shirt I got today at Hollister.” She said.
“Oooh that’ll be cute.” Laur said with a smile.
“Thanks.” Leah smiled back.
I need you
I need you here
I need you now
I need security somehow
I need you
Like you would not believe
You're the only thing I want
Cause you're everything I need…
Lauren’s phone sang signaling she was getting a call. “It’s Tyler.” She said without even looking at her phone. She could tell it was him from the ring tone. That was their song.
“Hey Teek.” She said, answering her phone.
“Hey Laur. What are you up to?” Tyler asked. Lauren smiled at the sound of his voice.
“I’m at Leah’s picking out what we’re wearing to your game tomorrow.” She replied, “How about you?”
“Sounds fun. I just got back from Godard’s place.” He said.
As the couple’s conversation continued, Leah sat on her bed picking at her nails. She wanted so badly to have a guy that called her and cared about her and that loved her like Lauren did. It had been a while since she had been in a real relationship with anyone and she missed it, though she wouldn’t admit it. All she could do was put on a smile and wait for her knight in shining armor to come rescue her.
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